How do you follow one of the all-time great TV shows? Anyway you want, if you’re Mad Men creator Matthew Weiner. Now, Amazon and The Weinstein Co. have struck a deal to co-finance Weiner’s next television project, with $70 million commitment. It may not be the richest deal in the world of original streaming programming, but it is certainly one of the biggest!
According to The Hollywood Reporter, that $70 million will go towards the production of Weiner’s new eight-episode series. But it’s unclear exactly what Weiner’s latest show will be called or even what it will be about. The report only indicates that it will “a contemporary anthology that is set in multiple locations across the globe.” The project was written and conceived by Weiner, who may direct half of the episodes himself. It’s not surprising that Amazon aggressively bid for this project. While Amazon’s original programing has made strides in recent years, it still falls far behind Netflix in terms of output and cultural reach. Lining up talent like Weiner, David E. Kelley, and even Woody Allen could potentially change that over time.
Related: Amazon Puts ‘The Departed’ Into Development As a Series
THR also noted with some irony that Weiner once spoke out against the binge model of programing that Amazon and Netflix have embraced. While talking with THR in 2015, Weiner said “I would try to convince [Netflix] to let me roll them out so at least there was just some shared experience. I love the waiting; I love the marination. When you watch an entire season of a show in a day, you will definitely dream about it, but it’s not the same as walking around the whole week, saying, ‘God, Pete really pissed me off.’ And then at the end of the week, saying, ‘When he said he had nothing, that really hurt.’ I remember people saying that. You can reconsider it. And you see it pop up in your life.”
At the time, Weiner left himself some wiggle room by adding “I do love the idea of pressing that button and getting it right away and getting as many as you can take.”
What do you want to see in Weiner’s next TV project? Let’s talk about it in the comment section below!
