Netflix has acquired the rights to all 22 books in the Brian Jacques fantasy series Redwall, marking the first time that the rights to the entire series were acquired by a film or television company. Netflix made a rights deal with publisher Penguin Random House Children, according to Deadline.
This is a great franchise move even for Netflix, as the books are considered classics by many and have sold over 30 million copies. The series follows the fantasy adventures of noble and heroic talking animals. All books in the series were written by author Brian Jacques, who died in 2011, shortly before the publication of the 22nd book.
The streaming network plans to create a film and TV series of events. The film will be based on the first book in the series, whose title is simply Redwall. The script will be written by Patrick McHale, who is best known as the creator of the critically acclaimed animated Cartoon Network miniseries Through the garden wall.
McHale is also working with director Guillermo del Toro on a modern adaptation of Pinocchio, also for Netflix. Pinocchio is scheduled to be released this year.
Netflix will also premiere a series centered on the character Martin the Warrior, for whom the sixth book of Redwall series was titled.
Redwall it was never adapted into a feature film, but it was turned into a three-season animated series for a Canadian TV network that ran from 1999 to 2002. The series was also shown in the United States by PBS. The three seasons of the Canadian series were based on the books Redwall, Mattimeoand Martin the warrior.
As is often the case with ads like this, one of the parties to the deal released a public statement – in this case, Alan Ingram of The Redwall Abbey Company:
Brian used to travel the world to tell his Redwall stories to young audiences, more often than not in his schools … Brian would be very happy to see that Netflix shares his joy and desire to bring his stories to life as a new universe of films, series and potentially much more for audiences of all ages.
No release date or window has been set for the film or TV series.