Prince Harry and Meghan Markle are on to their newest media venture, and this time, they will be working on the production side for Netflix.
After a few recent “Hollywood” disappointments, the latest opportunity seems promising: Harry and Meghan’s company, Archewell Productions, has purchased the right to the newly released romantic novel Meet Me at the Lake, by Carley Fortune. Interestingly, the plot of the novel has some parallels to the Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s own lives.
Harry & Meghan Buy Screen Rights To Novel For Netflix
The screen rights for Meet Me at the Lake were reportedly purchased by Netflix for $3M, to be produced under Meghan and Harry's Archewell Productions deal under the streamer, which lasts through 2025. No date has yet been announced for a projected premiere for the film.
Meet Me at the Lake is a romantic novel following a 32-year-old woman, Fern Brookbanks, who returns to her late mother's lakeside resort after her untimely death to run the place. A decade previously, Fern had met a man named Will and enjoyed an incredible daylong date with him in Toronto (similar vibes to Before Sunrise), with both promising to meet each other one year hence at a designated time and place. Fern showed up—Will didn't. Their lives both took dramatic turns after the romantic disappointment, and 9 years later, Will shows up back in her life while Fern is restoring the resort her mother left her.
The author, Carley Fortune, is known for her previous bestselling novel Every Summer After, and also was formerly the Executive Editor of Refinery29 Canada. In a statement to the NY Post via her publisher, Penguin Random House, Fortune said of the Archewell acquisition, "I’m so thrilled about working with Netflix and Archewell to bring Meet Me at the Lake to the screen. Will and Fern’s love story is dear to my heart, and I can’t imagine a more perfect partnership." Meet Me at the Lake spent 6 weeks on the New York Times bestsellers list since its release in May.
Novel Has Interesting Similarities To Harry & Meghan's Life
Meet Me at the Lake does have some parallels to Harry and Meghan's own past that may have made it an attractive property for them specifically to adapt. Much of the action of the story is triggered when Fern's mother dies in a car accident, forcing the protagonist to take on her lakeside resort. Of course, this parallels to the tragic circumstances surrounding the death of Harry's own mother Princess Diana, who perished in a car crash in August 1997.
The novel is also set in Canada, a country near and dear to the Duke and Duchess' hearts (Meghan filmed Suits in the country and lived there during production for years) and involves a love story taking place in the characters' 30s, which is the time period when Harry and Meghan met and fell and love, as well. The story also explores themes of "childhood trauma, including losing a parent in a car crash, mental health challenges and post-natal depression," per Deadline. The Sussexes are well-known mental health advocates, and it makes sense that they would infuse their passions into their chosen productions, as well.
An insider told The Sun that, "The themes of the book gripped the couple, and it was chosen for their first adaptation with Netflix." Along with other projects, the adaptation joins Harry's upcoming Africa documentary for the streaming giant.
