Serena Williams Exec Producing ‘Carrie Soto Is Back’ Series At Netflix

EXCLUSIVE: Netflix has taken in for development Carrie Soto is Back, a series adaptation of Taylor Jenkins Reid’s tennis-themed bestselling novel, Deadline has learned. Fittingly, tennis great Serena Williams is set to executive produce the project from Fifth Season and Picturestart. A rep for the streamer declined comment.

Written and executive produced by Amanda Kate Shuman (The Wheel of Time, Berlin Station), Carrie Soto Is Back follows tennis legend Carrie Soto, whose determination to win at all costs has not made her popular. But by the time she retires from tennis, she is the best player the world has ever seen. Six years after her retirement, her world record might be taken from her by a brutal, stunning player named Nicki Chan. At thirty-seven years old, Carrie makes the monumental decision to come out of retirement and be coached by her father for one last year in an attempt to reclaim her record. And to make matters more complicated, she is joined in the journey back by her on-again, off-again romance, Bowe Huntley. In spite of it all, Carrie Soto is back for one epic final season to be remembered.

Williams and Caroline Currier executive produce via Nine Two Six Productions alongside Picturestart, Reid as well as Brad Mendelsohn via Circle Management + Production. Fifth Season and Picturestart will serve as co-studios.

While Carrie Soto is not based on Serena Williams, the character evokes the 23-time Grand Slam winner, and Reid has spoken of the Williams sisters’ influence on the book.

“My incredible respect for the Williams sisters is part of what makes me interested in tennis,” she said in an interview at the time of the book’s 2022 release. “I wouldn’t write a book about tennis without the influence of just the absolute glory that has been their journey, but also specifically Serena’s quest to get as many Grand Slam titles as she has managed to do.”

The TV series adaptation also is expected to be loosely inspired by Serena Williams’ story.

Williams executive produced the 2024 docuseries In the Arena: Serena Wiliams as well as, alongside her sister, fellow Grand Slam winner Venus Williams, King Richard, the 2021 movie about the sisters’ early years in Compton being coached by their dad.

Shuman is repped by UTA and Hansen Jacobson Teller.