Neil Patrick Harris Closes Deal To Headline Netflix’s A Series Of Unfortunate Events

First linked with the coveted part since back in January, it’s understood that How I Met Your Mother star Neil Patrick Harris has finally closed a deal to join Netflix’s A Series of Unfortunate Events, the upcoming small-screen reboot of Lemony Snicket and Daniel Handler’s dark family drama.

Stepping into the crooked and elongated shoes of Count Olaf – a role originally portrayed by Jim Carrey in the 2004 fantasy adventure – Harris’ character will be the bane of the Baudelaires, a distant relative who welcomes Violet, Klaus, and Sunny into his home soon after their parents pass away during a, you guessed it, unfortunate event. In the novels, Olaf is a malevolent and conniving trickster, and while we readily expect that to carry over to Netflix’s TV reboot, the show will likely have a slightly lighter tone to ensure it reaches a larger demographic.

Currently, Malina Weissman and Louis Hynes have been cast in the roles of Violet and Klaus, respectively, with Netflix still on the hunt to secure an actress to play Sunny before its 13-episode season can enter production in earnest. Barry Sonnenfeld (The Addams Family, Men In Black) is the director behind the lens.

Violet, Klaus, and Sunny Baudelaire are on their way to Netflix, and while the online giant is yet to lay out an official production timeline, common logic would dictate that A Series of Unfortunate Events will get the cameras rolling later in 2016.