It has become one of Netflix’s biggest original series to date, but “Wednesday” is in a slightly awkward position as the Jenna Ortega-led series is produced by MGM Television which is now owned by Netflix’s rival Amazon.
In fact, due to its $8.5 billion acquisition of MGM, Amazon now finds itself in business with many of its rivals, including “Vikings: Valhalla” also on Netflix, “The Handmaid’s Tale” on Hulu, “Last Light” at Peacock, “Fargo” at FX, and other projects in the works at Apple, Starz and Paramount+.
Despite this, a “Wednesday” renewal is inevitable at this point with sources for the trades indicating that will come in the new year rather than before the end of the year. There are things the new partners need to work out, but renewal talks are expected to go smoothly.
In fact, producers are reportedly starting to talk to writers about joining the second season’s writers’ room and are considering season two locations for the show, which has already crossed the one billion hours viewed mark in less than a month.
Tim Burton and showrunners Alfred Gough and Miles Millar took the project to market in October 2020 with Netflix officially ordering it in February 2021 – long before the Amazon acquisition of MGM.
Catherine Zeta-Jones, Luis Guzman, Isaac Ordonez, Gwendoline Christie, Riki Lindhome, Jamie McShane, Fred Armisen and Christina Ricci co-star in the series which scored solid reviews and has become something of a viral sensation.
Amazon is currently at work mining the MGM library for titles that it can remake and reboot, both in series and films, with sources saying that this will come in the “not-so-distant future”.
The news comes as Ortega has signed on to star and produce in a coming-of-age romantic drama “Winter Spring Summer Or Fall” which marks the directorial debut of Tiffany Paulsen. Ortega will reunite with her “Wednesday” co-star Percy Hynes White in the project about two teens who meet and fall in love over four significant days of the year.
Source: Deadline
