One of the most reliable and respected men in all of horror is moving from Netflix to Amazon Prime Video. Mike Flanagan, who delivered shows like The Haunting of Hill House to Netflix has signed a new overall deal with Amazon, alongside his creative partner Trevor Macy. That means the shows they create in the future will be exclusive to Prime Video, serving as a pretty big loss on the talent side for Netflix. The streaming wars are brutal, and the king of the hill has suffered a casualty. But one's loss is another's gain.
According to Deadline, Flanagan and Macy's deal at Netflix is about to be up, and they were exploring other options. Amazon became the most attractive of those options, and now they are under an exclusive, multi-year deal to develop and produce projects for the streamer via their Intrepid Pictures production company. Flanagan and Macy had this to say in a joint statement:
"Amazon is a studio that we have long admired. Their commitment to engaging in groundbreaking series and content aligns with the ethos of what we have built at Intrepid. We are looking forward to working with the entire Amazon team as we bring our brand of genre productions to the service and audiences around the globe."
Flanagan and Macy are a force to be reckoned with in the genre space. During their time at Netflix, they created The Haunting of Hill House, The Haunting of Bly Manor, Midnight Mass, and The Midnight Club. Not to mention that Flanagan's underrated movie Hush was picked up by Netflix some time back, and he also directed an adaptation of Stephen King's Gerald's Game for them. Now, it's worth pointing out that this Amazon deal is said to be for series and not movies. So Flanagan could, in theory, direct a movie elsewhere. Though one figures he'll be quite busy. Vernon Sanders, head of global television at Amazon Studios, had this to add:
"Mike and Trevor are remarkable at telling immersive, suspenseful stories that masterfully keep audiences engaged from start to finish. We are excited to welcome them to Amazon Studios and are looking forward to our global customers experiencing their genre-bending creativity."
For what it may be worth, Netflix has had a pretty rough year financially, with the company's stock dropping significantly and subscriber growth grinding to a halt. Meanwhile, Amazon has a much more diverse business model, with Prime Video as just a part of the equation. They are investing more in movies and TV for the service, which may have made it a more attractive destination for Flanagan and Macy. The good news for us horror fans is that the two are still in the business of making genre television, it's just going to have a new home.
Before the Netflix deal is done, the service will release Flanagan's next show, The Fall of the House of Usher, in 2023, which is based on the works of Edgar Allan Poe. As for what the future holds at Amazon? Nothing specific has been announced just yet, but we'll surely be hearing more next year.
