By THR is reporting that Robin Wright may join Kevin Spacey in a remake of the acclaimed British mini-series House of Cards. Netflix outbid HBO and AMC, amongst others, for the exclusive rights to produce and distribute the series. Is this movie news or TV news? Well, Kevin Spacey is involved (as an actor and producer), and the series pilot is being directed by David Fincher (who will also serve as executive producer). Plus, its streaming on Netflix, so we thought we would let you know.
What most interests me is not so much the material, but the surrounding production details. This is Netflix’s first original series, and it comes at a pretty steep cost. They’re rumored to have budgeted out $100,000,000 dollars for the 26 episode series. And yeah, I had to check to make sure all those zeros counted. It’s no secret that HBO isn’t a Patton Oswalt (Big Fan) of Netflix, so this may be a strike back against the company that boasts some pretty spectacular television fare. But one hundred mill for a political drama? Quite a gamble if you ask me.
HBO (understandably) won’t give their content to Netflix, so this might be a step in the escalating war for online content. With more and more people setting up their versions of a home theater system for entertainment, online content may become king in the foreseeable future. Still, it costs quite a bit to make these shows, and the means of distribution will become the financial pivot on which the fates of these companies hinge. Perhaps Netflix hopes that having original, exclusive content will bring in new members. Otherwise, they may fall apart like some sort of, oh nevermind.
[Via The Hollywood Reporter]