‘The Grimm Legacy’: Disney+ Has Its Eye On A YA Fantasy Franchise
By Ben Pearson/Feb. 5, 2019 4:30 pm EST
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Gleeson, an Irish filmmaker who’s written movies like Don’t Go and Cowboys & Angels, is about to have his most high-profile credit with Tolkien later this year. Right now he’s just attached to write The Grimm Legacy, and no director has been set yet. Jane Goldenring, who executive produced several Disney Channel original movies (including Zapped, starring Zendaya), will produce this adaptation.
The book series consists of three books so far – The Grimm Legacy, The Wells Bequest, and The Poe Estate – and reading their descriptions, each book seems to feature an entirely new set of characters. The link between the stories is the setting: the New York Circulating Material Repository, a magical library that lends out objects instead of books and contains all manner of spectacular items from various works of fiction.
This seems like an especially smart play for Disney+, because if the setting of the story is the true star, the company won’t ever find themselves in a Robert Downey Jr. situation where they’re forced to pay an actor a huge payday to stay involved with their burgeoning franchise. They can wipe the slate clean every time, bring in a new cast, and keep this thing going for years.
