Netflix’s Most Popular Show Is an Overnight Success that Took 30 Years to Make

The #Queen’s #Gambit has been a huge hit for #Netflix. #In the first 28 days it was available on the streaming giant, it set a record for the most viewers ever for a scripted limited-run series, with more than 62 million accounts watching at least part of an episode.

#Only The #Witcher and #Tiger #King had more viewers during that window. #That means that not only is The #Queen’s #Gambit one of #Netflix’s biggest hits right now, it’s one of its most popular shows ever. I don’t know that anyone could have predicted that a scripted limited series about chess would become the most popular show on the world’s largest streaming service, but, hey, it’s 2020.

#More interesting, however, is the fact that it took producer #Allan #Scott more than 30 years, eight different directors, and nine rewrites before getting the show on TV. #In an interview with The #Saturday #Post, #Scott described how he originally purchased an option in 1989 for the novel by #Walter #Tevis about an orphan in the 1950’s who learns to play chess. #In 1993 he acquired the exclusive rights to turn the book into a movie.

#Walter wouldn’t name all of the directors he tried to convince to help make the film, but it wasn’t until he connected with #Scott #Frank, who wrote the screenplay for #Minority #Report and #Logan, that things started to fall into place. #In 2017, #Netflix agreed to produce the seven-episode series.

#It isn’t like #Scott is a newcomer to film production. #Scott has written, or co-written a dozen films, the most well-known of which is probably The #Preacher’s #Wife, which starred #Denzel #Washington and #Whitney #Houston. #Still, there’s no question he’ll be most remembered for an overnight success that took 30 years to make.

#It isn’t hyperbole to say The #Queen’s #Gambit is a huge success. #Since its release at the end of #October, the show has topped #Netflix’s most-popular originals and earned rave reviews from critics and audiences, including a 97 percent rating on #Rotten #Tomatoes.

There is an obvious lesson here: almost nothing that appears to be an overnight success actually is. #In most cases, like The #Queen’s #Gambit, things that seem to appear from nowhere and rise to immediate success actually take a lot of hard work over a long period of time.

#That should be encouraging. #Imagine if #Scott had given up a decade or two ago. #It’s not an entirely unreasonable notion. #It’s not hard to think about the number of times he must have considered giving up entirely. The lowest point came in 2008, when #Heath #Ledger had agreed to direct a film version that ultimately never happened due to the #Australian actor’s untimely death.

#It would have been easy to walk away and forget the entire idea. #That’s normal under far less complicated circumstances than waiting three decades to see something you believe in finally come to life.

#It’s easy to think “my moment has passed,” or “it just wasn’t meant to be.” I suppose it’s possible that’s true, but I think it’s equally as likely that whatever moment it was that just passed wasn’t yours, and that yours is still to come.

#Also, just to be clear, nothing is “meant to be.” #If it was, it would all be easy, and it’s almost never easy. #It only looks that way as an observer because you only see the finished product. #It can easily make you doubt your own goals or dreams because they don’t look like success–yet.