“He’s a thief and a murderer and so far has completely evaded capture.”
Well that just sounds great! The latest teaser for Netflix’s upcoming A Series Of Unfortunate Events series focuses on Count Olaf, the villain at the center of the series and a legitimately bad guy. None of the half-serious “villain-ish” antagonists that some shows and adaptations have gone with at some points. A true “wants to kill multiple small children for their family inheritance and also has an ugly tattoo” villain. Count Olaf has already been portrayed on screen once, by the sufficiently creepy Jim Carrey in the movie adaptation of the popular book series. Now, Neil Patrick Harris is stepping into the role and ratcheting up the creepy factor with his predatory put ons.
The latest teaser includes NPH in facial prosthetics, menacingly leering over the Baudelaire children as they claim “something strange is going on.” The series will have an eight-episode first season and if successful the show aims to encompass more than the few books that the movie covered. The series has consumed the attention spans and captured the imaginations of young adult readers all over the world, and the stories that Lemony Snicket (AKA Daniel Handler) weaves about a trio of orphans definitely fits better as a long-running series than as a one-off movie that requires a huge box office performance to warrant a continuation of the story. Netflix’s bank account is the boost that this saga needs to find a long-term audience and spin it’s scary, manic web of adventures.
The show premieres on Friday, January 13th of next year. Yes, Friday the 13th. Netflix is nothing if not appropriate with their premiere dates.
