Netflix has acquired the Roald Dahl Story Company which means it now has exclusive rights to create movies, shows, and even games based on the author's work.
Not so long ago, Netflix sat atop the streaming world with very little in the way of competition. The arrival of Disney Plus, the continued growth of Amazon Prime, and the gradual international expansion of HBO Max has changed all that. While Netflix remains the industry leader it has had to kick things up a gear to compete with Disney's Marvel monopoly and HBO's ownership of properties like DC and Game of Thrones.
Netflix has made a big acquisition this week in an attempt to reopen the gap between it and the chasing pack. It announced on Twitter this morning that it now owns the rights to the Roald Dahl Story Company. That means the streaming service will now be the only place moving forward that you'll be able to find new adaptations of Roald Dahl's many iconic children's books.
Roald Dahl's tales have been adapted into movies and TV shows many times in the past. However, a statement on the acquisition issued by Netflix suggests it will be taking Dahl's works a step further than that. “The creations of a unique universe across animated and live-action films and TV, publishing, games, immersive experiences, live theater, consumer products and more,” the statement reads. That suggests Netflix is or will be working on Roald Dahl-inspired video games, something no one else has really had a crack at in the past.
Although Netflix has only acquired the right to Roald Dahl's back catalog now, the two entities have been working in tandem for a few years. An animated series based on Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, headed up by Taika Waititi, is currently in the works, as is a musical adaptation of Matilda.
Other than the two projects that had been announced prior to the acquisition, there's no word on what Netflix's Roald Dahl slate might look like. Danny The Champion of the World is a Dahl book that hasn't previously been given much attention, and it's been a very long time since James and the Giant Peach was turned into a feature-length movie. Perhaps both of them will be reintroduced to a whole new generation by Netflix in the future.
