The film rights to the books of Lemony Snicket have been purchased by Nickelodeon Films. Production is being handled by Paramount Pictures and DreamWorks SKG (which will distribute the film internationally). Brad Silberling is currently set to direct the script by Daniel Handler. Jim Carrey is set to star as Count Olaf, with Jude Law as Lemony Snicket and Meryl Streep as Aunt Josephine. The first film will encapsulate the events of the first three books in A Series of Unfortunate Events: The Bad Beginning, The Reptile Room, and The Wide Window. Release is tentatively scheduled for Christmas 2004. Shooting may begin November 2003 in Los Angeles. Paramount wants a budget of no more than $87 million.

      A Series of Unfortunate Events chronicles the miserable lives of the Baudelaire orphans: Violet, Klaus and Sunny. A distant relative, Count Olaf, pursues the children in hopes of securing the Baudelaire fortune for himself. The first three books include such nastiness as legal loopholes, an incredibly deadly viper, peppermints, a hurricane and the threat of realtors.