They Both Die at the End slots perfectly into Netflix’s young adult niche. The story centers on Mateo, a young Puerto Rican boy, and Rufus, a Cuban teen, who are both informed that they will die in the next day. Seeking to make a friend before the end, they become acquainted, and maybe more. The novel is the first gay Latino romance to ever hit #1 on the New York Times Best Sellers List.

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Per Deadline, Netflix won the rights to the series after a lengthy negotiation process in which five different studios were involved. The series was nearly an HBO project that would have involved J.J. Abrams’ Bad Robot and The Other Two co-creator Chris Kelly. Reportedly, the series is receiving a script-to-series deal at Netflix, and Yellowjackets executive producer Drew Comins will join Bad Bunny, Silvera, and Van Dusen as a producer.

The series will be at home on Netflix, which has released numerous YA adaptations that have gone on to be extremely successful. For instance, their adaptation of Heartstopper, another gay romance, recently garnered an order for seasons 2 and 3. However, They Both Die at the End will probably be the first YA adaptation at Netflix to feature two LGBT Latino leads.

Bad Bunny is known for his attempts to uplift the Latino community, so it is no surprise to see his name attached to the project. It’s also not surprising to see him branch out into the film industry, especially after Bad Bunny was cast as El Muerto in Sony’s Spider-Man Universe. Though that project was met with confusion, as El Muerto is a relatively obscure character, They Both Die at the End has been in the works since 2021, when it became viral following a TikTok trend.

Hopefully, the series will also see other Latinos and Latinas behind and in front of the camera. Though the group makes up about 19% of the United States population, the cohort is woefully underrepresented in Hollywood. They Both Die at the End would be the perfect opportunity to cast some more Latin Americans on screen and get some Latin American talent behind the camera.

They Both Die at the End is in development at Netflix.

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Source: Deadline