Richie Rich heads to Netflix

SVoD giant Netflix is rebooting the classic cartoon character Richie Rich with a live action half-hour comedy series to be produced by DreamWorks Animation-owned AwesomenessTV.

The 21-episode series will be made exclusively available to Netflix subscribers in the US, Canada and Latin America from early 2015.

Jake Brennan (Dark Skies) will play the titular character, the richest kid in the world, as he makes the most of his fortune by exploring Antarctica, living in a mansion and meeting famous celebrities.

AwesomenessTV’s Brian Robbins, Shauna Phelan and Joe Davola will exec produce the series alongside Tim Pollock and Jeff Hodsden, whose credits include Disney shows such as The Suite Life of Zack and Cody.

Richie Rich was one of the pieces of IP acquired by DreamWorks Animation when it bought out Classic Media, now known as DreamWorks Classics, for US$155m in 2012.

The character first appeared in the Harvey Comics in 1953 and has been developed into multiple animated series, produced by the likes of Hanna-Barbera. A live-action feature film starring Macaulay Culkin as Richie Rich was released in 1994.