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Lemony Snicket's 'Events' coming to screen

June 12, 2002 Posted: 9:52 AM EDT (1352 GMT)

NEW YORK (Reuters) -- Get ready for an "Unfortunate" time at the box office.

Variety reports Nickelodeon Movies is developing a feature version of the bestselling book series "Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events," the first of what studio executives hope will be a film franchise in the vein of Warner Bros.' lucrative "Harry Potter" series.

The "Snicket" saga revolves around a pint-sized trio of orphans named Sunny, Klaus and Violet who find themselves fobbed off on a series of odd people, including Lemony Snicket, who narrates each of what has grown to a series of eight books since the first title debuted in 1999. The recurring bad guy is a distant family relative named Count Olaf, who initially takes in the kids but clearly is trying to separate them from a family inheritance.

"Men in Black 2" director Barry Sonnenfeld will shoot the film from a script by "Snicket" creator Daniel Handler. Scott Rudin ("Changing Lanes") will produce.

"We wanted someone who would define a visual style with a sense of black comedy, and Barry does that so well," said Albie Hecht, president of Nickelodeon Film and Television, which is based at Viacom corporate sibling Paramount Pictures.

Sonnenfeld made his feature directing debut on the Rudin-produced "The Addams Family" and its sequel, "Addams Family Values." It was that film, the "Men in Black" series, and even the dark humor of "Get Shorty" that prompted Rudin and Nickelodeon to draft Sonnenfeld for "Snicket" duty.

"This will be a movie with broad-based appeal," said Rob Friedman, Paramount Pictures vice chairman. "It is edgy the way 'Harry Potter' is edgy and if you wanted to call this our 'Harry Potter,' you wouldn't be mistaken."

While there is not the obvious magical powers of "Harry Potter" or "Lord of the Rings," the series has been wildly popular. Five of the top 10 spots on the New York Times kiddie bestseller lists are held by Snicket volumes.

"Barry can take kids and make them entertaining to adults," Hecht said. "Just think of Christina Ricci in 'Addams Family.' That is exactly the model for what we want to do here."

Nick has hatched animated film franchises with "Rugrats," a third installment of which is being made, and the about-to-be-sequelized "Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius." But Hecht said "Snicket" is the company's most ambitious franchise foray.