The Quebec book series Forbidden Tales will be adapted into a television series, announced Éditions AdA and the production company Attraction, which have signed an agreement. The product will mainly target the international market.
Forbidden Tales bring together more than 40 books written by 15 different Quebec authors. The literary series adapts popular tales like Cinderella, The Wizard of Oz And The beauty and the Beast in horror novels, intended for adults.
Gore and psychological horror intertwine in these novels set in contemporary Quebec.
“It’s an incredible opportunity. I believe that it is the dream most common to all authors, to see their writings adapted to the screen”, affirms Simon Rousseau, editorial director at Éditions AdA and author of several “forbidden tales”.
Mr. Rousseau points out that the series of novels is “the greatest success of recent years” of the publishing house. Most of the readers of these books are actually female readers, between the ages of 20 and 40.
While respecting the editorial line of “forbidden tales”, each author can keep his own style.
“The interest is not to have the same style. We want there to be something for everyone,” says Mr. Rousseau.
The author “would like the Quebec side to stand out again” in the television series.
“It’s really something that stands out in this series, we anchor our stories almost always in Quebec, with Quebec characters,” he explains.
At Attraction, we aim for the series to be distributed on the international market, mainly English-speaking.
“But that won’t exclude subtitled, dubbed or adapted versions for French-speaking markets,” says Richard Jean-Baptiste, vice-president of development and business innovation at Attraction.
The platform on which the series will be broadcast is not yet known. “We have discussions with various broadcasting partners, that includes both television and online platforms,” explains Mr. Jean-Baptiste.
The production company first aims to produce a season of Forbidden Tales, Forbidden Tales in English, five to eight episodes.
“We are immediately aiming for slightly longer formats per episode, so we are talking about 80, 90 minutes per episode. We want to make some kind of TV movies in fact, details Richard Jean-Baptiste. Because we do not close the door, that possibly, on certain markets, there could perhaps be releases (in) theaters. »
Mr. Jean-Baptiste specifies that “a good part of the filming” will be done in Quebec.
“We even want to maximize certain elements of what we find in Quebec, then that we also find in several of the tales, which is the nordicity, the cold, the forest, the winter, which are quite specific to Canada, but also to Quebec, “he says.
To those who are surprised that Attraction, which is notably behind Master keyturns to horror, Richard Jean-Baptiste replies that there is a “logic” behind this choice.
“It’s also the idea of a brand that we want to put in place, as we did with Master keyas we do with Tales for all. It is part of a logic of being interested in brands, ”he says.
He also points out that horror fans are “a very engaged audience,” which influenced the production company’s decision to embark on the project.
The “forbidden tales” television series will probably be able to be broadcast around 2025, according to Mr. Jean-Baptiste.
This dispatch was produced with the financial assistance of the Meta Exchange and The Canadian Press for the news.