For those who felt personally victimized by 2004 film version of Lemony Snicket’s A Series of Unfortunate Events, Netflix is hoping to wipe away all memory of the film by creating a brand new adaptation of the trials and tribulations of Violet, Klaus, and Sunny Baudelaire. The tale follows the three children as they are passed from relative to relative after their parents’ deaths. As the trio come into contact with each one, something terrible happens to their guardian and they must move onto the next of kin, with only their wits and family ties to keep them alive and together. In preparation for this long-awaited new adaptation, and perhaps to celebrate the spirit of the season, Netflix released a short teaser trailer:
The trailer includes Lemony Snicket, played by Patrick Warburton, walking through the set alone, as the entire cast and crew has been struck with a terrible care of melancholia and ennui. The trailer highlights the same twisted whimsical tone that the books had. The set shows the exaggerated Victorian-style streets where the action will take place, and even without the actors there to give it life, it still feels present and full of dark wonder.
The show has an impressive cast, including Joan Cusack, Aasif Mandvi, Bernadette Peters, Malina Weissman, and Usman Ally. Neil Patrick Harris will take on the iconic role of Count Olaf, the Baudelaire’s siblings creepy, scheming uncle and the main antagonist of the series. And most befitting of all, the show will premiere on the first Friday the 13th of the new year, adding more “bad luck” to the tale of these orphaned siblings. Whether or not this version of the story will finally do justice to Daniel Handler’s popular series depends on how well it can tap into the horror and the hope the books so encapsulated. At the very least, the fact that Handler is a producer is a good sign.
A Series of Unfortunate Events will debut as an eight-episode series on January 13th, 2017.
