“There’s A Story To Be Told There”: More Bridgerton Spinoffs Teased By Shonda Rhimes

Shonda Rhimes teases more Bridgerton spinoffs could come after Queen Charlotte, pointing towards her interest in exploring one character.

Queen Charlotte creator Shonda Rhimes discusses more spinoffs, previewing the possible future of the Bridgerton franchise. Having recently debuted on Netflix with India Amarteifio in the title role, Queen Charlotte focuses on the character’s younger years and tracks her rise to power. The historical drama, which garnered positive reviews, and consists of six episodes, has already led to speculation and discussion about where the show’s wider universe could go next.

Rhimes, who is an executive producer on the original Bridgerton series, was asked by IMDb about who else from Queen Charlotte’s cast might get the spinoff treatment. In her response, Rhimes talks about Lady Danbury (Adjoa Andoh) and discusses her interest in the character, as well as feeling a young Violet would be “fascinating” to explore. See what Rhimes said below:

I wasn’t necessarily thinking about this as a Bridgerton spinoff when I started telling the story just because Queen Charlotte is so singular. But I also included the stories of Lady Danbury. And you get to meet a young Violet. And I think Violet is fascinating. And there’s a story to be told there.
Queen Charlotte’s Success Makes More Brigerton Spinoffs Likely

In the first few days of its release, Queen Charlotte has been dominant, accumulating nearly 149 million hours, landing it on the top of Netflix’s charts for the week of May 1-7. In terms of total views, which Netflix calculates through dividing the hours viewed by total runtime, the show has 22 million views. Although it’s still early in the run of Queen Charlotte, the signs are promising.

Although somewhat obscured by its approach of releasing droves of new movies and shows each month, Netflix is very interested in expanding on its popular titles. There have already been attempts to broaden out Squid Game with a reality show, and Stranger Things with an animated series. Bridgerton, then, could lend itself more naturally to continuations that shift the focus to the origins of different fan favorites.

Rhimes has become one of the most successful and recognizable names for her ability to pinpoint interesting stories, whether it was soaping up the medical drama genre with Grey’s Anatomy or lending her cache as a producer to bring Viola Davis to television with How to Get Away with Murder. She’s done the same with Bridgerton for Netflix, and after Queen Charlotte’s complex ending, it sounds like there are several intriguing possibilities.