Netflix Touts $6B Spend in U.K. Since 2020, Unveils 3 New Commissions Including Keira Knightley Drama
Netflix has announced three new U.K. commissions while also trumpeting its — somewhat sizeable — spend in the British creative economies.
At an event in London, the streamer unveiled two new series and a feature film. Black Doves comes from in-demand writer Joe Barton (Sky’s The Lazarus Project and the untitled Cloverfield sequel) and production company Sister (Chernobyl, The Power) and will see Keira Knightley play a woman whose secret identity becomes endangered when she embarks on a passionate affair. Meanwhile, Department Q — from The Crown banner Left Bank Pictures — is an eight-part detective series based on the novels of Danish author Jussi Adler-Olsen, with Scott Frank (The Queen’s Gambit) set as lead director.
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On the feature front, Netflix also announced Bank of Dave: The Sequel, a follow up to last year’s popular comedy-drama — based on a true story — about a British businessman (played by 007 star Rory Kinnear) who starts up his own bank in order to help his local community.
At the event, held in London’s recently revamped Battersea Power Station, Netflix also gave glimpses of various already-announced shows, including David Beckham and Robbie Williams documentaries, and allowed various stars to talk about their upcoming projects, including Daniel Kaluuya (The Kitchen), Rapman (Supacell), Sam McAlister (Scoop), Claudia Harrison (The Crown), Yasmin Finney (Heartstopper) and Joey Batey (The Witcher).
Meanwhile, Netflix also touted just how much it has pumped into the local creative economy, claiming that it was now spending almost $1.5 billion per year on series and films in the U.K. — up $500 million on its annual spend over the years from 2020 to 2023 — and that the total since 2020 was approaching $6 billion.
“It’s no secret that the U.K. produces some of the world’s most iconic entertainment. This is true for Netflix, too — from Top Boy to The Crown, Heartstopper to The Tinder Swindler — our productions are some of the buzziest, most watched and zeitgeist defining in the world,” said Anne Mensah, Netflix’s vice president of U.K. content. “We are deeply committed to the U.K., and I’m incredibly proud to announce today that between 2020 and 2023 we will in fact have invested almost $6 billion creating Netflix series and films here, an increase of nearly 50 percent on what we originally anticipated.”
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