According to Deadline, Netflix won a very impressive bidding war for the rights to Quicksilver. The book came out in June, immediately kicking off a considerable battle for the opportunity to adapt the work. Netflix cranks out a lot of shows based on books, but it raises a lot of eyebrows when they get this interested in a property. So what is Quicksilver about, and will it be the next Netflix sensation?
Quicksilver and its Upcoming Netflix Adaptation
The new kingmakers of the book-to-movie industry are the fine people on “BookTok.” For the uninitiated, BookTok is the TikTok community that popularizes written fiction, though almost always in a specific niche. They’re somewhat infamous for fixating on the sort of dark fantasy romance some might playfully call “bodace rippers.” Their heroines are sharp-witted and self-sufficient, but their heroes are haunted, brooding, and morally flexible sex objects landing somewhere between Batman and a Batman villain. Enter Callie Hart’s Quicksilver, a success on the TikTok market. Netflix won Quicksilver faster than most had time to read it, but there are still a few key pieces of information worth knowing.
What Is Quicksilver About?
Quicksilver is an “enemies to lovers” story about a supernatural thief named Saeris. Her world, presumably the setting of all future Fae & Alchemy entries, is a harsh desert with limited access to water. Saeris makes do by stealing from a powerful queen. Her stressful situation leads her to stumble into a snowy alternate world where she meets the requisite dour dreamboat. Her enemy/lover for the evening is a Fae boy called Kingfisher, leading to the usual back-and-forth banter before the other selling points come into view. It’s rather familiar, but the adherence to fanfiction-ready tropes seems to hold a lot of appeal.
Who Wrote Quicksilver?
Callie Hart writes a lot of romance novels. Her website lists three omnibuses, two additional series, and a few stragglers. Quicksilver is a separate heading on the site, marking it as her obvious crowning achievement. Most of her earlier works are slightly more grounded, demonstrating a fondness for the salacious elements of her genre before the fantastical ones.
Who Is Involved with the Netflix Adaptation?
We know Callie Hart will stay on the project as a producer. The other notable known talent so far is Elizabeth Cantillon, another producer. Cantillon has been in the game since the late 1980s. She produced Galaxy Quests, one of the finest comedies ever made. Her most recent accomplishment before bringing Quicksilver to Netflix was her work on Fede Alvarez’s Alien: Romulus earlier this year.
Quicksilver probably won’t see the Netflix screen for a while. The second book in the Fae & Alchemy series is set to drop next fall, but the novel’s impact is already considerable. BookTok moves pretty fast, so the attention faded from Quicksilver some time ago. Still, the fine people on that very normal website can rejoice to know they’ll meet Kingfisher, Saeris, and their real favorite character, Carrion, sometime in the near future.
