Netflix Inks First Look TV Deal With Publisher BOOM! Studios
By Joe Otterson
LOS ANGELES (Variety.com) – Netflix has signed a first look television deal with comic book and graphic novel publisher BOOM! Studios.
Under the deal, BOOM! will develop live action and animated series. BOOM! Studios CEO and founder Ross Richie and president of development Stephen Christy will executive produce all shows developed through the pact.The company is behind comic book franchises like “Lumberjanes,” “Something is Killing the Children,” “Once & Future,” and “Mouse Guard.”
“We generate 20+ new original series a year and are thrilled to partner with a company that is as prolific as we are,” Richie said. “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.”
BOOM! and Netflix are currently working on a feature adaptation of the graphic novel “The Unsound.” The two companies previously collaborated on a graphic novel tie in to the 2019 series “The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance.”
“BOOM! characters are innately special, they’re colorful, diverse and varied and their stories have the power to ignite something in all of us,” said Brian Wright, vice president of 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.”
The deal was brokered by UTA and attorney Matt Saver.
BOOM! currently has over a dozen film and TV projects in various stages of development with different partners. The company maintains its first look film deal at 20th Century Studios/The Walt Disney Company through 2021. The studio was set to produce a feature adaptation of “Mouse Guard,” but the film was scrapped last year just two weeks before production was set to begin.
