Hulu ordered a “How I Met Your Mother” (“HIMYM”) sequel series titled “How I Met Your Father” and Hilary Duff has signed on to play its lead role.
Yahoo! Style reports that the premise and structure of the new series will be similar to “HIMYM,” with Duff playing a character named Sophie who is telling her future son the story of how she met his father. The majority of the series will take place in flashback as Sophie and her friends navigate their love lives and professional endeavors.
It is unclear at this time who else will round out the “HIMYF” cast and what the production timeline looks like.
The writing duo of Isaac Aptaker and Elizabeth Berger (“This Is Us,” “Love, Victor”) is scripting the new series with Carter Bays and Craig Thomas, the original “HIMYM” creators, serving as executive producers, E! Online reports.
In a joint statement, Bay and Thomas commented on the announcement of “HIMYF,” saying, “Kids, I’m going to tell you an incredible story: It’s the story of how two writers got lucky enough to make their dream TV show for nine seasons and now get to pass the torch to an inspired new creative team with their own incredible story to tell, the story of ‘How I Met Your Father’” (via The Hollywood Reporter).
They continued, “We are honored by their passion and vision, and look forward to helping them tell a legendary new story. (Thanks to all the ‘HIMYM fans’ out there who waited for it).”
In an Instagram video posted on April 21, Duff shared her feelings on her new role.
“I’m really excited to dig in and start finding out who Sophie is going to be, and the new on-screen family that I’m going to have,” she said, adding, “I truly feel blessed and I can’t wait. So, I hope you’re excited just like me.”
Variety reports this isn’t first time a studio has attempted to make a “HIMYM” spinoff or sequel. According to the site, CBS made a pilot episode for a show titled “How I Met Your Dad” in 2013. The project starred Greta Gerwig alongside Meg Ryan, but it was never picked up for a series order.
The original “How I Met Your Mother” series starred Josh Radnor, Neil Patrick Harris, Cobie Smulders, Jason Segel and Alyson Hannigan. It ran for nine seasons between 2005 and 2014 and won 10 Primetime Emmy awards. The sitcom is currently rated 8.3/10 on IMDb and has a Rotten Tomatoes score of 83%.