Netflix has officially signed a deal with Dark Horse Entertainment - the film and television production branch of publisher Dark Horse Comics. The two companies previously collaborated on action-comedy superhero series The Umbrella Academy, based on the Dark Horse published comic book of the same name by My Chemical Romance frontman Gerard Way. The first season of the popular show was a massive hit with viewers, and recently ranked as the most in-demand superhero TV show - ahead of the likes of Doom Patrol and The Flash. The Umbrella Academy was also recently renewed for a second season, much to the delight of its growing fanbase.
Since it was formed in 1992, Dark Horse Entertainment has produced over thirty films and TV shows. Their first major hits were in the mid-1990s with comedy The Mask and sci-fi action film Timecop, both of which were based on creations by Dark Horse founder Mike Richardson. The company also produced the Emmy Award-winning 2007 documentary Mr Warmth: The Don Rickles Project, and more recently collaborated with Syfy on two TV shows - Dark Matter and Resident Alien. Dark Horse’s collaborations with Netflix also include Polar - the Mads Mikkelsen-fronted film based on the webcomic and graphic novel of the same name by Víctor Santos, which might be getting a sequel according to director Jonas Åkerlund.
Now, it looks like the two companies will be enjoying many more successful collaborations in the not-too-distant future, as Netflix announced on Twitter that they’ve officially closed a deal with Dark Horse. The terms of the deal mean that Netflix gets first look at all Dark Horse titles for film and TV adaptations, and the two companies are reportedly already exploring their options for future projects. Cindy Holland, vice president for original content at Netflix, added the following thoughts via a press release:
The head honchos over at Dark Horse are just as pleased about the new deal. Senior vice president Keith Goldberg said that the company “couldn’t be more excited,” while Dark Horse president and founder Mike Richardson stated:
Following the success of The Umbrella Academy, we’re excited to extend our relationship with Dark Horse Comics. The Netflix teams are already working in deep collaboration with Dark Horse to identify projects beyond the world of traditional superheroes - branching into horror, fantasy and family entertainment - that we think our members will love.
The announcement was met with much excitement on Twitter, with a whole host of Dark Horse fans suggesting which properties the two companies should adapt for film or TV. Among the suggestions were Hellboy and its spinoff series B.P.R.D, alongside horror series Harrow County. The overwhelming consensus, however, was that Netflix and Dark Horse should adapt Kentaro Miura’s gory manga and anime Berserk. In fact, just last December, fans of Miura’s manga were pushing for Netflix to adapt it with producer Adi Shankar at the helm. Thanks to the Dark Horse-Netflix collaboration, those fans’ wishes could be granted sooner than they think. And judging by the success of The Umbrella Academy, a Beserk adaptation could be just as brilliant.
“We are very excited about this new arrangement with the talented people at Netflix. We have strong creative relationships as well as a large content library to work with and, as we have seen with our recent projects, Netflix is the perfect partner to bring our stories to fans around the world.”
Next: What To Expect From The Umbrella Academy Season 2
Source: Netflix/Twitter
