Girls, the seminal HBO series on millennial strivers that launched the careers of Lena Dunham, Allison Williams, Adam Driver and more, will return for a limited run on HBO in 2027.
The five-episode addendum, set to begin production next year – a decade after the series finale aired – will reunite creator and star Dunham, as aspiring writer Hannah Horvath, alongside Williams as Marnie Michaels, Zosia Mamet as Shoshanna, Jemima Kirke as Jessa and Andrew Rannells as Elijah. Judd Apatow will also return as executive producer.
"We always said we would only return to Girls if there was a specific story we were burning to tell," Dunham said in a statement. "I've missed these characters, but for a long time I couldn't quite picture them in the present day. Then, right around my fortieth birthday, they started talking to me in the shower. And, as you may remember, once this fivesome starts talking it's pretty hard to get them to stop …
"It's rare that you get the chance to return to something that changed your life with the gift of hindsight and a whole new level of gratitude and understanding," she added. "I love these girls (and boy), our friends at HBO, and all the people who have continued to discover the show and remind us afresh why we do this, which is the joy of being together … and the chance to wear yellow mesh …"
"We're thrilled to have Lena turn her gaze from the tumult of one's twenties to the milestone of turning forty," said Amy Gravitt, the head of HBO comedy programming. "To say the world has changed since we last saw Hannah, Marnie, Shoshanna, Jessa and Elijah is a massive understatement, but we know fans – old and new – will be happy to see how they've grown and relieved to see that they're still the Girls we knew way back when."
Over six headline-generating seasons, from 2012 to 2017, Girls received 19 Emmy nominations and two wins, including for best casting. Dunham, who became a media fixture after writing the show's pilot at just 23, is returning to the series after the launch of her bestselling memoir Famesick, which dealt with the heady rush of responsibilities and fame during the show's 2010s heyday. Dunham's credits since the end of Girls also include the Netflix series Too Much and indie film Sharp Stick.
Other details, including title, plot and additional casting, have yet to be announced. As Dunham wondered in a video teasing the announcement: "I have a question though – can we still call it Girls? Because we're old as f-."
The news arrives as HBO becomes part of Skydance as the result of the $111bn merger which was made official last week.