Netflix is staying in business with Shonda Rhimes.
The Bridgerton creator has renewed her overall deal with the streamer. The five-year deal will see Rhimes, her production company Shondaland and her producing partner Betsy Beers, continue to exclusively develop and produce series, films and games for Netflix and also includes merchandise and live events attached to her projects.
It comes five years after she signed her last pact.
The move makes sense for Rhimes and Netflix; Bridgerton remains a huge hit for the company, which said that the franchise has recorded 610M views since the first half of 2023. The first season of the regency drama is the seventh most popular show ever on Netflix and the third season is at number ten.
It comes after Netflix lost a number of those responsible for its other top hits; Stranger Things creators The Duffer Brothers signed a megadeal with Paramount last year and Ryan Murphy, who created Dahmer: Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story, which is its sixth biggest English-language show of all time, moved back to Disney in 2023.
Season 5 of Bridgerton is currently in production in London, where Netflix built Rhimes a studio complex. The season will focus on the introverted Francesca Bridgerton (Hannah Dodd) and Michaela Stirling (Masali Baduza).
Spinoff prequel Queen Charlotte also performed well for the streamer and entered the all-time top ten when it launched in 2023.
There has been talk of another other Bridgerton-related projects coming down the pike including a prequel focused on Violet Bridgerton, the Dowager Viscountess Bridgerton, widow of Edmund Bridgerton and mother of the eight Bridgerton siblings, who is portrayed by Ruth Gemmell in the main series.
Rhimes has also produced a number of non-Bridgerton-related series for Netflix including limited series Inventing Anna, the Julia Garner-led series inspired by the life of Anna Sorokin aka Anna Delvey, and The Residence, the murder mystery drama toplined by Uzo Aduba that premiered last year and ran for one season.
She is also behind Emmy-winning documentary Black Barbie and Dance Dreams: Hot Chocolate Nutcracker about choreographer and director Debbie Allen.
Netflix will also continue to support Shondaland’s inclusion initiatives, such as the Ladder Program, to help train underrepresented below-the-line creatives.
Rhimes said, “I am excited to extend our relationship with Netflix. For almost a decade, Netflix has provided Shondaland with the autonomy and support to tell our kind of stories—stories that both entertain and reflect diversity and humanity in a way that resonates with audiences around the world. I am so thankful to Ted, Bela and the entire Netflix team for their continued partnership, trust and enthusiasm. Let’s go.”
Bela Bajaria, Netflix Chief Content Officer, added, “I am thrilled to extend our partnership with the incomparable Shonda Rhimes. Few creative partnerships have shown what’s possible when a singular vision meets a global stage: stories that become genuine phenomena, shaping fashion, music and culture far beyond the screen. Nearly a decade in, this partnership keeps proving that Shonda’s instincts aren’t just brilliant storytelling — they’re a blueprint for what a hit can become. We couldn’t be prouder to remain the home where Shondaland continues to surprise and entertain audiences around the world.”
English (US) ·