Fate: The Winx Saga, Netflix's grim and gritty live-action version of the colourful kids cartoon series, was cancelled by the streaming giant after the release of its second season.
While it may be disappointing for fans, the franchise's original creator Iginio Straffi now has carte blanche to contractually do what he wants in terms of adaptation. For him, that's a $100 million movie.
Speaking to Variety, he called the film version "probably the most important project of my entire career" and talked about turning down multiple offers to make a lower budget version, but now thinks he has more negotiating power thanks to Fate raising awareness of the IP.
Related: Fate: The Winx Saga includes a really random Sex Education crossover
"[The film] will comprise not just the characters’ relationships in school – which are a big part of what the Netflix series revolves around – but the franchise’s more epic fantasy aspect: transformations, battles with witches, the Trix," Straffi said, citing the Harry Potter series as a comparison.
"The audience I’m seeking to tap into comprises those who, just like the audience for the Netflix series, are nostalgic for the original animation series 20 years ago, and also families who want to go to the movies with children aged 10 and up.
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"The Netflix series drew heavily on the existing characters, but also created a mood that is a bit darker. There will be dark shades, but the mood will be closer to the DNA of the animation series – especially the bad guys."
Related: Fate: The Winx Saga season 2 ending explained by the cast
He also said that he hadn't gotten in touch with the Netflix executives to find out why it was cancelled, but it was assumed it was due to the slight viewership decline compared to season 2 and the fact that the talent would ask for more money for a third season (a standard practice in the industry when a show is renewed beyond its initial contract length).
Fate: The Winx Saga is available to stream now on Netflix.
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Joe Anderton is a freelance news writer at Digital Spy, having worked there since 2016. In his time, he's covered a host of live events and interviewed celebrities big and small. A big fan of TV and movies both mainstream and obscure, Joe also enjoys video games and in particular PlayStation. Joe currently does not use Twitter, but he only ever used it to tell people to watch the film Help! I'm a Fish.
