Netflix is not playing around.
After shelling out a fortune to secure the talents of Grey’s Anatomy and Scandal mastermind Shonda Rhimes, the streaming giant just locked down perhaps the other most prolific creative force in all of television. According to The New York Times, Netflix signed Ryan Murphy for a five-year deal said to be worth up to $300 million.
Murphy is the man behind hugely popular and critically acclaimed shows like American Horror Story, Glee, American Crime Story, and 9-1-1, which is poised to become another in a long string of hits. Once the deal with Netflix kicks in this July, all of Murphy's current shows will continue to air on their original networks.
“Ryan Murphy’s series have influenced the global cultural zeitgeist, reinvented genres and changed the course of television history,” said Ted Sarandos, Chief Content Officer at Netflix. “His unfaltering dedication to excellence and to give voice to the underrepresented, to showcase a unique perspective or just to shock the hell out of us, permeates his genre-shattering work.”
Murphy, who broke into Hollywood with his over-the-top plastic surgery drama Nip/Tuck, will extend far beyond his usual showrunning duties. He will also produce feature films and documentaries for the streaming service.
“The history of this moment is not lost on me,” Murphy said in a statement. “I am a gay kid from Indiana who moved to Hollywood in 1989 with $55 dollars in savings in my pocket, so the fact that my dreams have crystallized and come true in such a major way is emotional and overwhelming to me.”
Murphy already has two shows in development with Netflix called Ratched and The Politician. While neither have a premiere date set, we can expect them to “champion women, minorities and LGBTQ heroes and heroines," Murphy added. And why wouldn’t he continue to explore the themes that helped make him such a towering figure in the entertainment industry? If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it—especially in Hollywood.
