Netflix Passes On Adaptation Of Mark Millar’s The Magic Order

Deadline reports that Netflix has passed on an adaptation of the Mark Millar comic series The Magic Order, which had been in early-preproduction in Prague for a 2021 start. Casting hadn’t even begun yet and the scripts were still being written when the news dropped.

However, executives at Netflix are said to be high on the property and while a series isn’t moving forward now, that doesn’t mean it won’t later on. The scope of the series, combined with the uncertainty caused by the COVID-19 pandemic were factors in the decision to abandon the project, but not the main one. The Czech Republic had a record number of new COVID infections this week and is spreading at the fastest rate in Europe. At least one member of the pre-production crew in the country has been affected.

The series was to be executive produced by James Wan & Lindsey Beer. Wan would have directed, but COVID closures pushed a movie of his back and he still needs to finish it. He was replaced in the director’s chair by André Øvredal.

The Magic Order was one of several Millar projects lined up when Netflix acquired Millarworld in 2017. Still in the works are two TV shows (Jupiter’s Legacy and American Jesus) and three films (Empress, Huck and Sharkey the Bounty Hunter). Jupiter’s Legacy is expected to launch in 2021.

Here’s a synopsis of The Magic Order: “Five families of magicians sworn to protect our world must battle an enemy who’s picking them off one by one. By day they live among us as our neighbors, friends and co-workers, but by night they are the sorcerers, magicians and wizards that protect us from the forces of darkness — unless the darkness gets them first.“