2004’s big screen, big-starred adaptation of A Series of Unfortunate Events, was rather unfortunate itself. So when Netflix announced last November that it would be creating a new series (… out of A Series) fans delighted, not least when a video was posted on YouTube yesterday by one “Eleanor Poe,” entitled “An Unfortunate Teaser.” (Poe is the fictional newspaper editor of The Daily Punctilio, who in the book fires Snicket for writing a bad review for her paper.)
Just one thing: the teaser is not real (well, technically speaking it’s real in that it exists — but it just isn’t from Netflix and doesn’t represent any imagery from their new adaptation). The video has already amassed nearly 800,000 views and managed to pull the wool over many news organizations, including the UK’s Independent (which said “It already looks brilliant”).
Speaking to Variety , a Netflix representative said, “This was not released from Netflix and is not anything official.” The faked teaser is nothing if not slick. The images used appear to have been cut from the aforementioned 2004 Jim Carrey adaptation, with added color filter giving it a more grimy, gothic feel. So, the question now is: will the real “Eleanor Poe” please stand up and take the praise for a job well — and mischievously — done?
Netflix are remaining tight-lipped on the details of production. Daniel Handler, who wrote the book using the Snicket pseudonym, is thought to be heavily involved but his exact role is still unknown. “I’m sure [Netflix] will find future requests of mine odd, too. I was eventually fired from the Lemony Snicket movie; we’ll see what happens here,” said Handler, speaking in March.
Watch the expertly made fake: