Oscar-bait films and the “Golden Age of Television” have been around for some time, but the era of prestige streaming content is still in its infancy.
On Wednesday, Netflix (NFLX) teased multiple new entries from its growing portfolio of prestige films and series, including a forthcoming satirical film about the U.S. War in Afghanistan and a dark psychological drama series about serial killer profilers at the FBI.
Netflix spent a reported $60 million acquiring the former, which is called War Machine and is based on the nonfiction book The Operators: The Wild and Terrifying Inside Story of America’s War in Afghanistan by the late-journalist Michael Hastings. Brad Pitt stars in the movie as a character based on retired U.S. Army General Stanley McChrystal. The movie will be available to stream on Netflix starting May 26.
The drama series is called Mindhunter, and it is executive produced by David Fincher (Zodiac, The Social Network) and actress Charlize Theron, with Fincher directing multiple episodes of the series. Set to debut in October, the series is based on the 1996 book Mind Hunter: Inside the FBI’s Elite Serial Crime Unit, co-written by former FBI special agent John Douglas, who served as inspiration for characters in the novels/films Red Dragon and The Silence of the Lambs. Fincher has previously worked with Netflix as executive producer on the site’s popular series House of Cards.
It makes sense that Netflix would want to continue its relationship with Fincher. The Academy Award-nominated director was one of the first big name talents to partner with the streaming site and House of Cards, which debuted in 2013, paved the way for the ever-expanding crop of massively popular and critically-acclaimed streaming series on platforms like Netflix, Amazon, and Hulu. House of Cards was the first online-only series to win an Emmy Award, in 2013.
Meanwhile, Netflix’s large investment in War Machine signals the site’s intentions to continue growing its slate of original films. The company also reportedly paid a whopping $90 million for the Will Smith sci-fi action film Bright, which will also debut later this year. Netflix has a four-film deal with comedian Adam Sandler, and the site has been active in acquiring acclaimed documentaries, including Oscar-nominated fare such as last year’s 13th.
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Netflix is only a few days removed from winning its first-ever Academy Award for the documentary short White Helmets, about volunteer rescue workers in Syria. But, the site has not had as much success developing feature films, especially in comparison with rival Amazon, which picked up multiple Oscars last weekend for feature films Manchester by the Sea and Iran’s The Salesman (winner for the Best Film in a Foreign Language).
Netflix said it will spend $6 billion to produce more than 1,000 hours of original content in 2017, up from $5 billion and 600 hours last year.
On Wednesday, Netflix also released teaser trailers for Glow, a series about the origins of women’s wrestling that stars Alison Brie, and the teen drama 13 Reasons Why, which is executive produced by pop star Selena Gomez.
