Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s $150 million Netflix deal could hinge on an origin story prequel to a 260 year-old novel

Photo by Mike Coppola/Getty Images for 2022 Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights Ripple of Hope Gala

If the rumors are to be believed – and you can guarantee the British press is collectively crossing its fingers in the hope that they are – Prince Harry and Meghan Markle‘s $150 million development deal with Netflix for original content may already be in jeopardy.

Having been cast aside by Spotify and then branded “grifters” by a company executive, the duo could really do with a hit that justifies the exorbitant price tag the streaming service is allegedly paying them. While there is a documentary on Harry’s Invictus Games coming down the pipeline, recent reports have additionally offered that the pair are actively working on a prequel series that tells the origin story of a character from Charles Dickens’ Great Expectations.

Repurposing existing content for the purpose of offshoots has become common practice in the industry – and has been for decades already – but you have to wonder if there’s an audience out there for Bad Manners, a scripted episodic prequel that recasts the spinster-like Miss Havisham as a “strong woman living in a patriarchal society.”

What’s on Netflix has offered that it won’t be adapted from any existing material at all, but will instead tell a brand new story focusing on the eccentric Havisham – who was jilted on her wedding day and then harbored a grudge against men forevermore – which might be why the company isn’t going down the tried-and-trusted Great Expectations Origins: Miss Havisham route, which is objectively a much better and more eye-catching moniker, if only for how utterly insane it looks on paper.

Apparently, it’s been described and pitched internally as “Bridgerton meets Peaky Blinders,” both of which are proven Netflix hits, so maybe it’ll save their collective bacon after all.

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Scott Campbell

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