Netflix streaming is certainly on a roll, with the critical acclaim and audience reaction to its recent “House of Cards” series. Although the company has yet to release official ratings for the show, there is no doubt that its investment was a success. Not one to slow down, Netflix has announced a new series coming to a mobile device near you, the sci-fi program “Sense8.”
Netflix has brought the big guns out this time, the show is being developed with the help of the Wachowskis (Lana and Andy), who have produced big hits with the Matrix series, as well as other films like “Cloud Atlas” and “V is for Vendetta”. Also on board is J. Michael Straczynski, the creator behind “Babylon 5”, as well as “Crusade”, “Jeremiah”, “Thor” and “Changeling.”
Netflix has two factors in its favor when producing original content — binge watching and content creator analytics. Binge watching was around before “House of Cards,” but the series made it certainly more prevalent. Netflix subscribers can watch the entire series at once, as Netflix releases the entire series of its original programming all at one time. It will do the same for “Arrested Development” when it debuts next month. Also Netflix can look at the stats for its current content, movies, TV shows, etc., and see what producers or content are streamed the most. Netflix chief content officer Ted Sarandos has said that the Wachowskis and Straczynski are among the top producers of content viewed on their Netflix Instant streaming service. So it would only make sense for Netflix to set up a deal with them.
Sci-fi fans will have to wait a bit before they can see “Sense8”; it is targeted for 2014. But the show is in production, and it certainly won’t be the last series to be announced and produced by Netflix.
