Netflix buys rights to works of celebrated children author, Roald Dahl

 Streaming giant Netflix has acquired rights to the entire catalog of Roald Dahl, the late British author of children’s classics such as ‘Charlie and the Chocolate Factory,’ the company said Wednesday.The  deal  would encompass opportunities beyond screen adaptations.Netflix is buying the Dahl Story Company, which oversees the rights to the author’s characters and stories, including ‘The BFG,’ ‘Fantastic Mr. Fox’ and ‘Willy Wonka’.It did not disclose the purchase price but Netflix said it would pursue opportunities based on Dahl’s work in games, immersive experiences, live theater, animated and live-action films and consumer products.The streaming video giant had signed an agreement three years ago with the  Dahl Story Company,  under which it was creating a series based on ‘Charlie and the Chocolate Factory’ with award-winning filmmaker,  Taika Waititi and an adaptation of ‘Matilda The Musical’ with Sony, Netflix said in a statement. It was rare for Netflix to purchase an entire catalog of work, as it usually brought  in filmmakers and TV producers to create original content.The new deal paved the way for Netflixto bring all of the author’s backcatalogue to screens.“These projects opened our eyes to amuch more ambitious venture — thecreation of a unique universe acrossanimated and live action films and TV,publishing, games, immersiveexperiences.Others were live theatre, consumerproducts and more,” Netflix Co-CEO TedSarandos and Luke Kelly, managingdirector of the Dahl Story Co. andDahl’s grandson, said in a jointstatement.Dahl died in 1990 at the age of 74 buthis books, which also included “TheBFG,” “The Twits” and “Fantastic MrFox,” remained popular with youngreaders, with more than 300 millioncopies sold worldwide and translationsin 63 languages.