Wednesday, a new show about the ooky-spooky eldest daughter of the Addams Family, quickly became one of the most successful series in the history of Netflix. But it’s been well over a month since it aired and the streamer still hasn’t announced a second season. That’s money being left on the table. What’s the holdup?
Well, we don’t have official word, but Independent has put together a compelling theory: that the second season of the show may appear on Amazon Prime Video, not Netflix.
How is that possible? Well, Wednesday wasn’t made in-house by Netflix. It was made by MGM, which in March of last year joined forces with Amazon in an $8.5 billion merger, continuing the great wave of consolidation that is sweeping over the entertainment industry. The first season of Wednesday was probably on track to air on Netflix before that merger went through, but MGM has the rights to the series, not Netflix. And now that the show is a huge hit, MGM may want the show to air on Amazon Prime Video, its new home turf, instead.
Why is it taking so long to renew Wednesday for season 2?
At the time the deal was made, MGM said it had no intention to make all MGM content exclusive to Amazon…but who knows how the bulk of a year in the belly of the beast might change your mind?
So what could happen here? One option is that Amazon/MGM could play hardball and just force the second season of Wednesday to air on Prime Video rather than Netflix. Another option is that it makes Netflix pay through the nose for the right to air season 2, something Netflix would probably be willing to do given how big a hit the show is.
It’s also possible that the original contract between Netflix and MGM doesn’t allow Wednesday to be shown anywhere else, but if that were true, we figure we would have heard a renewal announcement by now. At minimum, this can help explain why it’s taking so long.
I think Wednesday will be back. But where? That’s another question.
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h/t Forbes