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Hannah Horvath is going to be the voice of a new generation.
In a surprise announcement on Tuesday, HBO said it had revived a five-episode revival of the beloved millennial series “Girls,” which ended in April 2017 after six seasons. Production is expected to begin in 2027.
Created by Lena Dunham, the series featured Dunham, along with Allison Williams, Zosia Mamet, and Jemima Kirke, as women who are at odds – career, love, and a lot of bad choices – in New York City. They all return for the revival, with Dunham as showrunner, star, and creator. Andrew Rannells also reprises the role of Elijah Krantz, Hannah’s (Dunham) gay lover and former college sweetheart.
Judd Apatow will return as executive producer through Apatow Productions, alongside Dunham, Ilene S. Landress, and Michael P. Cohen of Dunham’s Good Things Going outfit. Williams, Kirke, Mamet, and Rannells will also serve as co-executive producers. Adam Driver (who played Hannah’s actor boyfriend Adam) and former co-runner Jenni Konner (with whom Dunham had a creative break after the show ended) are not mentioned.
Neither appeared in a particularly good light in Dunham’s best-selling memoir “Famestruck,” released earlier this year. Dunham said there was a feud with Driver over the show that led to several conflicts, while she and Konner had a long personal and professional relationship that ended in 2018 with the release of the follow-up miniseries “Camping.”
“We always said we would only return to ‘Girls’ if there was a specific story we were shooting to tell,” Dunham said in a statement shared by HBO. “I’ve missed these characters, but for a long time I couldn’t picture them in the present. Then, around my fortieth birthday, they started talking to me in the shower. And, as you may remember, once these five people start talking it’s very hard to get them to stop. friends at HBO and everyone who has continued to find the show and put remind us why we do this, the joy of being together… and the chance to wear a yellow mesh…”
The main cast includes Williams as Hannah’s neurotic art world (but hardly an artist) turned musician friend, Marnie Michaels, with Mamet as the garrulous, pragmatic corporate climber, Shoshanna Shapiro, and Kirke as Shoshanna’s bohemian, materialistic cousin, Jessa. The series, which Gen Z has recently taken for its first spin as it’s heavy on social media, follows the quartet’s rise and fall as a group of friends through several breakups and breakdowns.
Amy Gravitt, executive vice president, head of comedy programming for HBO & HBO Max, said in a statement: “We’re thrilled that Lena has transformed her look from tumultuous twenties to a milestone turning forty. To say the world has changed since we last saw Hannah, Marnie, Shoshanna, Jessa and Elijah is an understatement – but we know they’re happy growing old and new – we know how happy they will be.” getting old and new. glad to see they are still the ‘girls’ we knew long ago.”
“Girls” received 19 Emmy nominations and two wins over its six seasons, including Outstanding Casting for a Comedy Series.
Dunham recently directed the Netflix film “Good Sex,” starring Natalie Portman. It was pushed off the 2026 release calendar by the streamer, as Portman was unable to participate in promotion due to her recent pregnancy, IndieWire has heard from a source.
Variety first reported the news.
Additional reporting by Brian Welk.
