Netflix Signs First Look Deal with Comic Book Publisher BOOM! Studios
Netflix has signed a first-look deal with comic book publisher BOOM! Studios to develop live-action and animated series.
Per the announcement, BOOM! Studios CEO and founder Ross Richie and president of development Stephen Christie will executive produce all shows developed through the pact. The two companies were already developing “The Unsound,” a feature film directed by David F. Sandberg and based on the graphic novel by Cullen Bunn and Jack T. Cole, prior to the announcement. BOOM! Studios also created a graphic novel to tie-in to Netflix’s “The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance” last year.
Terms of the deal were not disclosed, and it is unknown what future projects may come out of the arrangement. BOOM! Studios currently has over a dozen film and television projects in development with various partners.
“We generate 20+ new original series a year and are thrilled to partner with a company that is as prolific as we are,” BOOM! Studios CEO Ross Richie said in a statement. “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! Studios’ Netflix deal was announced during a particularly difficult time for the comic book industry. Like most other entertainment companies, comic book publishers and creators have been hit hard by the ongoing pandemic, with comic book shops closing their doors and distribution put on hold.
The deal could help Netflix bulk up its library of comic book-related offerings; the streaming service has been somewhat quiet on that front since its Disney partnership that produced Marvel Cinematic Universe shows, such as “Daredevil” and “Jessica Jones,” fell through. Netflix saw success in 2019 with “The Umbrella Academy” and again in 2020 with “Locke & Key,” though neither franchise has established itself as a breakout on par with the major comic book adaptations pushed through Marvel and DC. With Disney investing in its own Disney+ streaming service and DC Comics projects primarily being tentpole films or DC Universe series, BOOM! Studios projects could help Netflix continue appealing to comic book fans.
“BOOM! characters are innately special, they’re colorful, diverse and varied and their stories have the power to ignite something in all of us,” Brian Wright, Netflix’s vice president, original series said in a statement. “We can’t wait to bring these stories from the page to the screen to fans in every corner of the world.”
