Netflix Inc. is trying to buy the Internet streaming rights to a 26-episode drama starring Kevin Spacey before the series is shown on a television network.
If the deal is completed, it would mark a bold step in a new direction for Netflix’s popular video subscription service. Netflix currently boasts more than 20,000 titles in its streaming library, but most of them are previously aired TV series and older movies.
The talks were reported earlier by Deadline.com. A person familiar with the negotiations on Wednesday confirmed Netflix’s interest in the series, called “House of Cards.” The person spoke on condition of anonymity because a deal hasn’t been reached.
Should it win rights to “House of Cards,” Netflix would emerge as an even more serious threat to pay-TV channels such as HBO. Netflix began the year with 20 million subscribers. Some analysts believe that by the end of this year the service could be as large as HBO, which is believed to have about 28 million subscribers.
As it has grown, Netflix has become more nettlesome for long-established TV services because some households are reducing or canceling their cable TV subscriptions as they find more to stream over high-speed Internet connections.
Time Warner Inc.’s HBO has consistently refused to sell Netflix the streaming rights to its original programming, such as “The Sopranos” and “The Wire,” because it doesn’t believe the extra money from licensing fees would offset the cost of helping a rival.
Now it appears Netflix wants to become more like HBO and other pay-TV channels such as CBS Inc.’s Showtime by gaining the exclusive rights to TV series.
“House of Cards” is a high-profile project backed by the production company Media Rights Capital II LP. Besides featuring Academy Award winner Spacey in the starring role, the series pilot will be directed by one of Hollywood’s most respected filmmakers, David Fincher. His credits include directing “The Social Network,” an Oscar nominee for best picture this year.
Even as he has insisted he doesn’t want to produce its own programming, Netflix CEO Reed Hastings has been aggressively bidding for the exclusive streaming rights to more content in an effort to reduce the postal expenses of Netflix’s DVD-by-mail option.
In its biggest streaming deal so far, Netflix last year agreed to pay nearly $1 billion in a five-year deal for the first rights to show movies and TV episodes from the pay-TV channel Epix, which is owned by Viacom Inc., Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Inc. and Lions Gate Entertainment Corp.
Without providing specifics, the person familiar with the “House of Cards” talks said Netflix is offering to pay less than $100 million for 26 episodes of the series.
Netflix spent $406 million on Internet streaming rights last year, a more than six-fold increase from 2009.
Disney Pledges $15 million In L.A. Fire Aid As More Celebs Learn They’ve Lost Their Homes
The Pacific Palisades wildfires torched the home of "This Is Us" star Milo Ventimiglia, perhaps most poignantly destroying the father-to-be's newly installed crib.
CBS cameras caught the actor walking through his charred house for the first time, standing in what was once his kitchen and looking at a neighborhood in ruin. "Your heart just breaks."
He and his pregnant wife, Jarah Mariano, evacuated Tuesday with their dog and they watched on security cameras as the flames ripped through the house, destroying everything, including a new crib.
"There's a kind of shock moment where you're going, 'Oh, this is real. This is happening.' What good is it to continue watching?' And then at a certain point we just turned it off, like 'What good is it to continue watching?'"
Firefighters sought to make gains Friday during a respite in the heavy winds that fanned the flames as numerous groups pledged aid to help victims and rebuild, including a $15 million donation pledge from the Walt Disney Co.
More stars learn their homes are gone
While seeing the remains of his home, Ventimiglia was struck by a connection to his "This Is Us" character, Jack Pearson, who died after inhaling smoke in a house fire. "It's not lost on me life imitating art."
Mandy Moore, who played Ventimiglia's wife on "This Is Us," nearly lost her home in the Eaton fire, which scorched large areas of the Altadena neighborhood. She said Thursday that part of her house is standing but is unlivable, and her husband lost his music studio and all his instruments.
Mel Gibson's home is "completely gone," his publicist Alan Nierob confirmed Friday. The Oscar winner revealed the loss of his home earlier Friday while appearing on Joe Rogan's... Read More