Netflix Strikes First-Look Deal With Boom! Studios Comic Book Publisher

Netflix and BOOM! Studios, the comic book publisher behind acclaimed series like Lumberjanes and Mouse Guard, have struck a first-look deal for live-action and animated TV. The BOOM Studios Netflix deal is not the first time the two companies have partnered up — David F. Sandberg's Netflix film The Unsound was based on a BOOM! graphic novel by Cullen Bunn and Jack T. Cole, and BOOM! also debuted a graphic novel series tied to Netflix's epic fantasy series, The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance.

Netflix and BOOM! Studios announced a first-look deal between the two companies, which will allow the streaming giant first dibs on live-action and animated TV projects developed by the comic book publisher behind Eisner Award-winning and beloved franchises like Lumberjanes, Something is Killing the Children, Once & Future, and Mouse Guard.

BOOM! Studios CEO Ross Richie and president of development Stephen Christy will executive produce all TV shows developed through the deal.

"We generate 20+ new original series a year and are thrilled to partner with a company that is as prolific as we are," Richie said. "BOOM!'s unique partnership model of controlling the media rights to our library benefits creators by positioning them to be packaged with high-end directors, screenwriters, and producers. We're thrilled to continue our track record of translating our best-selling award-winning library with the best TV talent in the business but now with the undisputed leader of the new streaming era."

"BOOM! characters are innately special, they're colorful, diverse and varied and their stories have the power to ignite something in all of us," added Brian Wright, Netflix's vice president of original series. "We can't wait to bring these stories from the page to the screen to fans in every corner of the world."

This isn't the first time Netflix and BOOM! have collaborated — partnering on David F. Sandberg's upcoming horror film The Unsound and tying in a graphic novel series with Netflix's buzzy The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance prequel series. But it does mark an exciting new partnership for BOOM! and another chance to finally get a Mouse Guard movie after BOOM!'s recent attempt to get a feature film made — through a first-look deal with 20th Century Studios — was essentially killed by the Disney-Fox merger. BOOM! Studios is still releasing the supernatural thriller The Empty Man through the first-look deal with 20th Century Studios, but the comic publisher has been looking elsewhere since the merger — setting Memetic with Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg producing up at Lionsgate, and several other TV projects at Amazon, HBO Max, Peacock, CBS All Access, and Disney+. But BOOM! has likely struck gold with Netflix, which allows its creators near-free reign with new projects.

Now if they can only get Wes Ball on board to revive Mouse Guard once again.