Peacock Orders Kennedy Ryan’s ‘Before I Let Go’ Series With Malcolm D. Lee and the Locke Sisters
Ryan co-created the adaptation and co-wrote the pilot, while Attica and Tembi Locke will serve as co-showrunners.
Peacock has ordered a series adaptation of Kennedy Ryan’s novel Before I Let Go, with Ryan and Malcolm D. Lee as co-creators and co-writers of the pilot. Attica Locke and Tembi Locke will serve as co-showrunners, writers and executive producers. Lee is also attached to direct and executive produce.
The series follows Yasmen and Josiah Wade, a divorced couple raising children and running a business together while confronting the damage that ended their marriage. Ryan’s novel is the first book in her Skyland contemporary-romance series. The television premise begins after the relationship has already fractured, making reconciliation, co-parenting and family healing the central conflict rather than a conventional first-meeting romance.
Universal Global Television and Universal Television are producing. The executive-producer team includes Dominique Telson for Blackmaled Productions, Mike Jackson and John Legend for Get Lifted Film Co., and Debra Martin Chase for Martin Chase Productions. The creative lineup gives the project a rare concentration of Black leadership across the source material, writing, showrunning and production sides.
The order was announced September 10, 2026. No cast, episode count, filming schedule or premiere date has been announced, so the news is the move from development into a series order—not an imminent release. Peacock first had the project in development in 2023. Ryan’s direct involvement is also material: she is not only licensing the novel but helping shape the television version of its characters and emotional architecture.
Before I Let Go is a strong fit for viewers tracking Black romance, literary adaptations and creator-led television. Its production team connects a major romance author with Lee’s film background and the Locke sisters’ television experience, while keeping the story focused on Black family life, grief and the terms of rebuilding trust. Score: timeliness 25/25; news value 23/25; source quality 21/25; originality 22/25; Indie Cut fit 24/25.