Netflix Looks for its Game of ‘Snicket’

As originally reported in today’s Variety, online powerhouse Netflix has purchased the rights to the phenomenally successful series of children’s books A Series of Unfortunate Events, written by Daniel Handler under the pseudonym Lemony Snicket.

According to the article, Netflix will partner with Paramount Television on the series. Paramount released the 2004 film Lemony Snicket’s A Series of Unfortunate Events, which starred Jim Carrey and Meryl Streep. That troubled production managed to gross over $200 million worldwide, making back its production budget of $100 million but failing to justify further investment in the series.

The novels, however, continue to attract a multi-generational audience, selling over 65 million copies worldwide. Clearly, Netflix is hoping to tap into this established property and generate Game of Throne-level buzz and fan enthusiasm for this series. Having not responded to the film version, I suspect the longer format of television would better suit the novel’s tone.

While no timeline has been published for the series, Netflix does have a robust slate of upcoming original content including the new dramatic series Marco Polo, a wide array of animation thanks to a partnership with DreamWorks Animation, and Daredevil, its first in a series of four Marvel-based properties.

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