Riverdale spinoff focused on Sabrina the Teenage Witch in development at The CW

Are we one step closer to Afterlife with Archie?

The CW and WB are developing The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina, a Sabrina the Teenage Witch-centric Riverdale spinoff, EW has learned.

The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina reimagines the origin and adventures of Sabrina the Teenage Witch as a dark coming-of-age story that traffics in horror, the occult, and — of course — witchcraft. Tonally in the vein of Rosemary’s Baby and The Exorcist, this adaptation finds Sabrina wrestling to reconcile her dual nature — half-witch, half-mortal — while standing against the evil forces that threaten her, her family and the daylight world humans inhabit.

The project, which is being eyed for the 2018-2019 seasons as a companion for Riverdale, takes its name and inspiration from the 2014 Archie comics created by Robert Aguirre-Sacasa, an executive producer on Riverdale. Sacasa will also write and executive produce on The Chilling Adventures, alongside Greg Berlanti, Sarah Schechter, Jon Goldwater, and Lee Toland Krieger, who is attached to direct should the project move forward.

The character of Sabrina was rumored to potentially appear on Riverdale. After all, Jason Blossom had traveled to the Greendale side of the river before his untimely death in the premiere, and Greendale is Sabrina’s hometown. That fact was among one of the clues that led fans to believe Riverdale was possibly going to adapt Sacasa’s other Archie comics run, Afterlife with Archie. More on that here.

Sabrina was previously brought to life by Melissa Joan Hart on the sitcom Sabrina the Teenage Witch, which ran as part of ABC’s TGIF lineup from 1996-2003. However, The Chilling Adventures is said to be a much darker take on the character.