The first two decades of the 21st Century were defined by the colossal number of YA literary adaptations being thrown into multiplexes with reckless abandon, with the misses dramatically outnumbering the hits. Lemony Snicket’s A Series of Unfortunate Events was one of the small exceptions to the rule, though, but still didn’t get a money-spinning franchise to call its own.
On paper, there weren’t many reasons not to carry on telling the story on the big screen, and with 13 source novels to choose from, there was hardly a shortage of content, either. And yet, despite earning $211 million at the box office, landing strong reviews from critics and an enthusiastic reception from audiences, as well as winning an Academy Award for Best Makeup from four nominations in total, it simply wasn’t to be.
There were whisperings of a sequel for a while, but after several years floating aimlessly around development hell, A Series of Unfortunate Events got the reboot treatment instead. The episodic Netflix show ended up running for three seasons, but a lot of fans would have much rather seen Jim Carrey continue on as Count Olaf at the expense of watching Neil Patrick Harris inherit the role.
To that end, the 2004 dark fantasy has become the subject of a renewed outpouring of praise on Reddit almost 20 years on from its initial release, with commenters voicing their support for the whimsical adventure, while many lament the fact it joined the voluminous one-and-done club during the literary fantasy genre’s most prolific era.
Published: Feb 5, 2023 03:39 am