Wednesday” is already one of the most successful Netflix series ever. But what many people don’t know: The hit is produced by the studio MGM, which now belongs to Amazon. But does this also have an impact on the future of the series?
The Addams Family series “Wednesday” has broken one record after another on Netflix and, less than a month after its release, is the third most successful Netflix series ever (behind “Squid Game” and the fourth season of “Stranger Things”). However, all this takes on a somewhat paradoxical twist if you take a closer look behind the scenes: As with many other Netflix series, the streaming provider is strictly speaking only responsible for the distribution of “Wednesday”, while the production itself is the responsibility of other companies, first and foremost MGM Television.
And anyone who has been following the business happenings in Hollywood lately may have heard that the traditional studio MGM has now been bought by Amazon. Although it was initially said that MGM would continue to operate quite independently despite its new patronage, a few weeks ago Amazon Studios boss Jennifer Salke took full control of MGM’s film and series division.
So one of Netflix’s biggest hits comes from its competitor Amazon, of all places, even though the first season of “Wednesday” was of course largely made before the online company’s MGM deal was finalised. Fans of “Wednesday” are now growing increasingly fearful that Amazon could put a stop to the future of the series in order to get one over on its competitor Netflix. But this worry is probably unfounded…
2ND SEASON “WEDNESDAY” AS GOOD AS CERTAIN
Despite the gigantic success, Netflix still hasn’t announced a second season of “Wednesday”, but this should only be a formality (the Netflix series boss also showed optimism here recently) and have nothing to do with Amazon.
Even under new management, Amazon probably doesn’t want to interfere too much in existing productions or even just wipe out the streaming rival by killing off one of its series. Because of course Amazon, as the new MGM parent company, also profits from the huge “Wednesday” success.
In fact, it is likely to become more and more the norm for Amazon to make common cause with the competition, after all, the MGM acquisition has also secured several other formats from other providers, including “Vikings: Valhalla” (also Netflix), “Fargo” (FX) and “The Handmaid’s Tale” (Hulu).
In the case of “Wednesday”, too, according to industry publications such as Deadline, it is now also expected that the upcoming talks about a renewal will go smoothly despite the restructuring currently taking place at the studio responsible. A first exchange with writers for the potential second season has even already taken place.
So we still have to be patient (maybe even until the beginning of 2023), but we are sure that the announcement of (at least) a second “Wednesday” season is only a matter of time.
