Writer/director Mike Flanagan has created some of the best and most-watched horror series on Netflix with his production partner Trevor Macy, including The Haunting of Hill House, The Haunting of Bly Manor, Midnight Mass and his most recent, The Midnight Club. Flanagan also directed movies like Gerald’s Game, Hush and Doctor Sleep. I’ve written about him before – go here for more about Flanagan. I’m a big fan and I barely heard about The Midnight Club until this latest controversy. Netflix decided not to give The Midnight Club a second season, which disappointed Flanagan and led him to tweet about the fate of his leads. (I’m on episode four out of ten and am avoiding spoilers.) Flanagan and Macy have since announced that they’re leaving Netflix and have formed a partnership with Amazon, but it sounds like this was in the works for some time.
Mike Flanagan and Trevor Macy (The Haunting Of Hill House, Midnight Mass) have signed an exclusive multiyear overall series deal with Amazon Studios. Under the pact, the duo will develop and produce projects via their Intrepid Pictures company, which will exclusively stream on Prime Video in more than 240 countries and territories worldwide.
“Mike and Trevor are remarkable at telling immersive, suspenseful stories that masterfully keep audiences engaged from start to finish,” said Vernon Sanders, head of global television at Amazon Studios. “We are excited to welcome them to Amazon Studios and are looking forward to our global customers experiencing their genre-bending creativity.”
Flanagan and Macy, who have established themselves as a force in horror genre storytelling over the last several years, are moving to Amazon Studios as their Intrepid banner is wrapping an overall deal with Netflix. With that multiyear pact coming to an end, the duo met with studios and streamers, opting to go with Amazon as their next TV home.
“Amazon is a studio that we have long admired,” said Flanagan and Macy. “Their commitment to engaging in groundbreaking series and content aligns with the ethos of what we have built at Intrepid. We are looking forward to working with the entire Amazon team as we bring our brand of genre productions to the service and audiences around the globe.”
Deadline goes on to report that Netflix still has The Fall of The House of Usher coming from Intrepid next year. There are also movies in the works which are separate from this deal. I love horror and Flanagan’s shows are masterfully immersive and can be devastating. They don’t go off the rails like a typical Ryan Murphy show and they have excellent character development. They’re always too long though and could cut three or more episodes and be much more impactful. I like going to dark places, but I don’t want to stay there for ten hours, you know? Still I’ll follow Flanagan to Amazon definitely.
I love Mike Flanagan! If you guys haven’t seen Oculus you should check it out. One of his first movies and very underrated horror
I’m a big fan of Mike’s work too and I love watching Kate Siegel. Looking forward to The Fall of the House of Usher
This is on my list and plan to binge watch during the holiday season – when i read his spoilers for season 2 I was thrilled as he planned to use the plot from my 2nd fave Christopher Pike book (the Final Friends trilogy is my all time fave – I also love Weekend and the Chain Letter books). I was also v excited to learn that his series pretty much stick’s to Pike’s book.
You can tell am a big fan of Pike’s.
Interesting… Amazon is really stepping up their game. They bought MGM and Tyler Perry also left Netflix for Amazon. Hopefully the quality of their content will continue to increase. Netflix had better stop with the quantity over quality business model Which has never really worked bc they keep cancelling their good shows after seasons and the competition is stiff and much better at it.
I love Mike Flanagan, too. QUALITY, well-done horror is such a niche genre, there’s so little of it. And it’s also my favorite film genre, so im CONSTANTLY digging on the internet, looking for films I haven’t seen.
Back to Mike Flanagan, I was VERY impressed by his reimagining of the Haunting of Hill House. That is my all time favorite horror novel, and I was VERY skeptical when I learned that a whole series was being made from a relatively short book, but it turned out to be amazing.
I’ve loved the first three series he did for Netflix! I haven’t yet had a chance to watch Midnight Club, but I’m looking forward to it. Hopefully their work with Amazon will be just as excellent.
I’ll watch whatever’s good wherever good is.
Wow! What a loss for Netflix. Honestly, I’m happy every time a series leaves Netflix because Netflix chops them so early. I was relieved that they picked up the rest of the Dragon Prince but I have zero faith in them keeping any other series alive. At this point: Amazon’s pitch to creators is pretty simple: We’ll let you tell your story. The whole story.
It’s gotten to a point where I don’t start original series on Netflix anymore unless they’re already complete because more often than not, they are cancelled.
My husband always says that Netflix is good for two seasons and then they give up on the show. I think I will start adopting your idea to wait for the show to complete. Except Stranger Things. That one gets a pass.
I am glad Mike is leaving for Amazon. Amazon is not afraid to pour money into their shows and they allow shows to have creative licensing. I think Amazon will be a better fit for him.
I was gutted to hear that there wouldn’t be a second season of Midnight Club. This is good news! I’ll watch whatever he puts out.
As long as Flanagan is able to continue creating amazing horror content that also breaks my heart, I’ll watch it wherever! I love his work so much. Midnight Mass is my favorite and I’ve watched it three times. I also love how he’s been answering fan questions/doing deep dives on Tumblr!
I want to like his stuff more than I do. Midnight Mass was good but his writing is undone by long winded monologues and sappy moments. He cares about characters and shows attention to detail but his work is often clunky.
Hill house is prob my favourite horror show ever! So well done. Still watch YouTube clips LOL