Based upon the 1985 novel by Margaret Atwood, Hulu's The Handmaid's Tale has become quite the success for the streaming service, and it seems that they're looking to expand the small-screen world of Gilead by also developing "The Testaments," Atwood's sequel novel set to be released on September 10th.
First reported by Time, Hulu and MGM Television are developing an adaptation of "The Testaments," but at the moment, it's not clear whether or not the events of the sequel novel will be folded into the existing series, become its own series, or perhaps something else. Hulu told i09 that they're "currently in discussions with Handmaid's showrunner Bruce Miller about how the upcoming novel can become an important extension to the immensely popular award-winning series," which doesn't exactly give a straight answer, but they did note that this will be the "third collaboration between Atwood and MGM Television" as they also have the rights to her 2015 novel "The Heart Goes Last." Taking place 15 years after the final scene in the original novel (which the Hulu series has long since moved past), "The Testaments" will "be told not from the perspective of Offred, but instead from those of three other women connected to Gilead: a young woman raised in the oppressive society; a Canadian teen who learns she was actually born there; and Aunt Lydia, a major villain in both the original novel and the show."
The Handmaid's Tale wrapped up its third season last month and Hulu has already renewed it for a fourth, but critics have begun to take issue with the amount of wheel spinning going on to keep Offred/June (Elisabeth Moss) in Gilead. It's something Margaret Atwood acknowledged while speaking with Time. "They can’t keep Offred in Gilead for many more seasons, or a certain amount of wheel spinning will be going on," Atwood said. "They have to move her along — and I’ve given them lots of ways of how that would happen." In my opinion, Hulu and MGM have a great opportunity on their hands; they can't keep The Handmaid's Tale going forever, so why not bring the series to an end with its fourth season and then return for more with The Testaments. Same world, new story.