David Farnor | On 06, Nov 2016

Netflix is setting its sights on Yuba, a Western produced by Channing Tatum.

The spec script, which is written by newcomer Eamon O’Sullivan, is already on the streaming giant’s radar, reports Deadline, with Sarah Bowen, Director of Content Acquisitions, bringing the screenplay in before any other buyers could read it.

Netflix is increasingly stepping up its original content production, with CEO Reed Hastings recently announcing that the company will spend $6 billion in 2017, with 1,000 hours of content on the way – up from 600 hours in 2016. A large part of that growth is its original feature film slate, with titles ranging from David Ayer’s Bright, starring Will Smith, to smaller productions, such as recent indie acquisitions I Am the Pretty Thing that Lives in the House and ARQ.

Yuba, will be produced by Free Association’s Channing Tatum, Reid Carolin and Peter Kiernan, alongside Vertigo’s Roy Lee and Energy Entertainment’s Brooklyn Weaver. The period epic is set in the Gold Rush era.

“At that time, the Yuba river valley often was cited as the most lawless lands of the Old West,” says Deadline. “The drama aspires for the rawness of ambitious, flawed characters seen in period films like There Will Be Blood or Legends of the Fall.”

Netflix is currently in talks for a pre-emptive acquisition of the spec script, with a budget pegged of around $25 million or under.

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