Netflix inks first-look deal with BOOM! Studios
David Farnor | On 14, Apr 2020
Netflix has inked a first-look deal with Mouse Guard publishers BOOM! Studios.
The company behind best-selling Eisner Award-winning and fan-beloved comic book franchises, including Lumberjanes, Something is Killing the Children, Once & Future, and Mouse Guard, is teaming up with the streaming giant to produce live action and animated series.
The deal marks a new partnership between the two companies, though Netflix and BOOM! have always been close collaborators, including partnering on the upcoming feature film The Unsound directed by David F. Sandberg, based on the graphic novel by Cullen Bunn and Jack T. Cole. BOOM! also debuted a graphic novel series in 2019 tied into Jim Henson’s The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance.
Those hoping for a Mouse Guard Netflix project, though, may have their hopes dashed: BOOM!’s feature film first-look deal remains at 20th Century Studios/The Walt Disney Company through January 2021. In 2017, a $150m Mouse Guard movie with Matt Reeves producing and Wes Ball directing was greenlit, but ultimately got cancelled by Disney two weeks from production in 2019.
BOOM! Studios CEO and Founder Ross Richie and President of Development Stephen Christy will Executive Produce all Netflix shows developed through the pact.
“BOOM! characters are innately special, they’re colorful, diverse and varied and their stories have the power to ignite something in all of us,” says Brian Wright, Vice President, Original Series at Netflix. “We can’t wait to bring these stories from the page to the screen to fans in every corner of the world.”
“We generate 20+ new original series a year and are thrilled to partner with a company that is as prolific as we are,” adds Richie. “BOOM!’s unique partnership model of controlling the media rights to our library benefits creators by positioning them to be packaged with high-end directors, screenwriters, and producers. We’re thrilled to continue our track record of translating our best-selling award-winning library with the best TV talent in the business but now with the undisputed leader of the new streaming era.”