Warner Bros. Television announced on Wednesday, August 5, 2026, that an untitled documentary about Gilmore Girls is in the works for HBO Max — the first authorised documentary about the series that ran from 2000 to 2007 (Deadline).

Bonni Cohen, whose previous credits include Athlete A and In Waves and War, is directing. The film features series creator Amy Sherman-Palladino, executive producer Daniel Palladino, and star Lauren Graham, alongside additional key cast and crew (Deadline). Variety corroborated that the documentary is told from the perspective of Sherman-Palladino and her husband Daniel Palladino (Variety).

The film will include never-before-seen outtakes, behind-the-scenes footage, and script pages. According to the film's description, it will trace how Gilmore Girls exceeded expectations to become a cross-generational phenomenon (The Hollywood Reporter).

Produced by This Machine — the Sony Pictures Television production company led by R.J. Cutler — in association with Warner Horizon Unscripted Television, the documentary carries a heavyweight executive producer roster: Mark Blatty, Jane Cha Cutler, R.J. Cutler, Daniel Palladino, Elise Pearlstein, Amy Sherman-Palladino, and Trevor Smith. Cohen and Melissa Robledo serve as producers (Deadline; Variety).

Gilmore Girls aired on the WB network for its first six seasons before moving to the CW for its seventh and final season in 2006–2007 (Variety). Netflix revived the series in 2016 with Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life, a set of four 90-minute films (Deadline).

The show's streaming home has shifted recently. The original series left Netflix at the end of June and now streams on Hulu and Prime Video, while A Year in the Life remains on Netflix (The Hollywood Reporter). The series draws an annual viewing bump on cable and streaming each fall, per the same report.

For fans, the documentary is not the only Gilmore Girls project on the horizon. Sherman-Palladino and Lauren Graham are collaborating on a book about the making of the series, due for publication in autumn 2027 (The Hollywood Reporter). And at least one other independent, unauthorised documentary about the show is also in development, separate from the HBO Max film (The Hollywood Reporter).

That unauthorised project, titled Searching for Stars Hollow, was announced in 2025 to mark the show's 25th anniversary in October. It is set to feature interviews with Kelly Bishop, Jared Padalecki, Chad Michael Murray, and others (Variety). The HBO Max documentary, by contrast, remains officially untitled, and no release date has been announced.

What makes the authorised film notable is the access. With Sherman-Palladino, Palladino, and Graham participating, plus unseen outtakes and script pages, it has the ingredients for a behind-the-scenes record drawn from the people who made the show — not outside observers. Whether that distinguishes it from Searching for Stars Hollow in the eyes of viewers will depend on what each film ultimately delivers.