Netflix isn’t just a video-streaming service where you can watch all of your shows on-demand: the company is looking to possibly acquire an original television show. According to web reports, Kevin Spacey might now appear on your screen under a Netflix-owned production.
It’s rumored that Netflix is looking to buy “House of Cards,” an original show produced by The Social Network’s David Fincher. Kevin Spacey, of course, would star. The whole deal would be estimated to be around $100 million.
The television show would be 26 episodes spread over the course of two seasons. It is based off a political thriller novel and BBC miniseries of the same name.
The Wall Street Journal said the talks were part of a larger, “behind-the-scenes” effort by Netflix to seek original material from Hollywood to gain new subscribers to its customer base. They also confirmed with Spacey’s agent that the talks are happening.
The New York Times sums it up:
Picking up the exclusive rights to a television show would effectively make Netflix a network similar to ABC or HBO and would underscore just how disruptive the company has become to the media business.
The size and scope of the potential deal astonished television industry executives, who noted that it was highly unusual to order an entire season of a show — never mind two — without first producing a pilot episode.
Even though 60 percent of the market belongs to Netflix, if Netflix does close the deal, it will definitely give Hulu and its competitors something else to think about.
(via New York Times)
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