Netflix lines up Wednesday spin-off
David Farnor | On 21, Dec 2023
Netflix is reportedly lining up a spin-off from its hit series Wednesday.
Tim Burton’s live-action show inspired by the Addams Family stars Jenna Ortega in the title role, alongside Catherine Zeta-Jones as Morticia, Luis Guzman as Gomez, Gwendoline Christie and Christina Ricci. The sleuthing, supernaturally infused mystery charts Wednesday Addams’ years as a student at Nevermore Academy – where she’s either the odd one out or the only one who really fits in with everything weird that’s going on.
The result is one of the most successful series ever on Netflix. It ranks #2 on the Most Popular (English) TV list with 1.2 Billion hours viewed within the first 28 days of its debut in November last year. Wednesday crossed the 1 billion hour view mark only three weeks after its debut – joining Stranger Things 4 and Squid Game as the third title to reach this milestone within its first 28 days.
Unsurprisingly, Netflix is looking to build on the show’s success to create another Stranger Things-like franchise. According to Bloomberg, the streamer is planning a spin-off centred on Uncle Fester, played in Wednesday by Fred Armisen. Discussion are reportedly in the very early stages, which means that there’s a long road of development ahead, with no guarantee of the spin-off show coming to fruition. Nonetheless, it indicates Netflix’s growing ambition to expand its own IP, especially as Stranger Things nears its final season.