ICYMI: Netflix offers Glee and Scream Queens’ Ryan Murphy a $300 million contract, meanwhile, Netflix’s new series’ have slow starts!

Hello and welcome to another edition of Streaming After Dark!

In case you missed it, Ryan Murphy has signed a $300 million deal with Netflix and will jump ship when his contract with FOX ends on July 1st.

This comes amid the news that Altered Carbon and The Cloverfield Paradox have had a reduction in viewership compared to the other Netflix hits Bright and Stranger Things.

To view more of what you missed in our latest issue of Streaming After Dark, view it here!

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Hot Topic: Netflix has been given the rights to the next four Duplass Brothers Films and Disney is planning to reboot The Muppets for their streaming service!

The Duplass Brothers responsible for the acclaimed independent films The One I Love, The Overnight, Creep, and Jeff Who Lives At Home, just signed a new agreement with Netflix that could mean big news for indy film lovers. The agreement gives the streaming service worldwide rights to Jay and Mark Duplass’ next four upcoming films. The first film stars Mark Duplass and Ray Romano.

Disney is reportedly planning to reboot The Muppets as part of the streaming service intended to directly rival Netflix. This comes in addition to the huge whirlwind of shows already planned for the streaming service, including a reboot of High School Musical,  and several Marvel featured films. A price point for the service is still up in the air. However, it was reported to be launching in the fall of 2019.

Guess Who: Aunt Zelda and Father Blackwood have been cast in Netflix’s Sabrina series, Viola Davis to star in Amazon film, and Tiffany Haddish will lead her voice for an animated series!

There’s major casting news for Netflix’s Sabrina series this week. Richard Coyle has been cast in the upcoming Sabrina the Teenage Witch Netflix series as Father Blackwood! As Father Blackwood, Coyle will play the High Priest of the Church of Night and the Dean of the Academy of the Unseen Arts. He will reportedly be conflicting with Sabrina (Kiernan Shipka).

Miranda Otto has also been cast as a series regular on the untitled Sabrina series, and she will play – guess who – Aunt Zelda Spellman! Otto’s character will reportedly be similar to Aunt Zelda from the Sabrina the Teenage Witch series. Zelda will also serve the Dark Lord as a member of the Church of Night in the series. And she will continue to be the protective aunt you may have known and loved.  

Viola Davis will reportedly star in a feature film for Amazon Studios titled Troupe Zero. The project will be produced by Antwone Fisher as well as Todd Black who worked with Viola on Fences.

Tiffany Haddish will give her voice to play one of the lead characters in a straight-to-series animated comedy with Netflix, Tuca and Bertie. The series comes from the same team behind the Netflix animated hit BoJack Horseman. The 10-episode animated comedy comes as another in a string of successes Haddish has had.

TVAD Writers Room: Altered Carbon Scene Stealer: Martha Higareda

This week from our very talented writers is an Altered Carbon scene stealer, Martha Higareda. Read all about Martha Higareda’s performance in the Netflix series from the Scene Stealer article here!

Interviews: Jeff Daniels on the upcoming Hulu series The Looming Tower, Joel McHale discusses his new Netflix series, and Joel Kinnaman discusses his exit from Altered Carbon and thoughts on a season 2!

The highly anticipated upcoming Hulu series, The Looming Tower, is right around the corner. The mini-series is an adaptation of the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel of the same name by Lawrence Wright. Jeff Daniels stars as FBI counterterrorism chief John O’Neil, who had been pushing for a deeper investigation into terrorist threats. John O’Neil was working at the World Trade Center as the head of security after being pushed out of the FBI. O’Neil sadly died when the towers collapsed.

Jeff Daniels spoke with Variety about the drama before it premieres to Hulu on February 28th:

“This guy truly believes he was right, who embodies the charismatic. And in hindsight he was. But no one would listen to him.”

Joel McHale has moved on to Netflix after securing a weekly commentary series titled The Joel McHale Show With Joel McHale which premiered on Netflix on February 18. The series is similar to his former E! series,  The Soup, but he assured in an interview that they’re totally different.  McHale spoke with Variety about the new series and how the show will be different from his prior series. McHale boasts that he can actually discuss topics like the Kardashians that E! allegedly would not let him make fun of.

Here’s what Joel McHale had to say when asked about making fun of his new Netflix counterparts:

“We’re going to be making fun of all of the streaming shows and all that stuff. We’re definitely having a tribute to “Stranger Things” in our first episode. Ted Sarandos is obviously widely successful and confident in his job, and he’s been great, so creatively, we are unrestricted. All I care about is making jokes that are funny and making people laugh.”

After the news that Joel Kinnaman won’t be returning for a second season of Netflix’s Altered Carbon, he spoke about his exit from the sci-fi show. However, when asked about the exit, Kinnaman said, “I can’t confirm that. We don’t know anything about the second season.” Renewal appears favorable according to several outlets, but Netflix has not made a decision on the series yet. What Kinnaman could discuss, was his role in the series.

“There’s a lot of sci-fi stuff to wrap your head around, but when you’re preparing for the character, you have to strip all of that away. You have to peel the layers of the onion until you get down to the real heart of the character. It’s a person that is constantly dealing with loss and has made himself numb to that feeling, and therefore doesn’t care about anyone. He won’t allow himself to feel things for other people.”

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Coming Soon: Trailer released for The Outsider, causing backlash, plus trailers and premiere dates released for Santa Clarita Diet season 2, the Lost in Space Netflix remake and more!  

Many trailers were released this week! First, the official trailer for Netflix’s The Outsider was released. The film stars Jared Leto who plays an imprisoned American soldier in post-World War II Japan who is freed by his Yakuza cellmate and begins working with them. The film has received backlash over whitewashing accusations. View the trailer below and let us know what you think!

Netflix has given a premiere date and released a trailer to the 10-episode series reboot of Lost in Space. The first season will launch on April 13 and follows the Robinson family 30 years into the future as they try to make a new life for themselves. View the trailer below!

Season 2 of Santa Clarita Diet is finally coming soon. Entertainment Weekly has an exclusive first look with photos from the season, which can be viewed here! The premiere date was also just announced from Netflix as March 23! The bloody series stars Drew Barrymore and Timothy Olyphant. Fans can also expect a ton of recurring guest stars, including Joel McHale, This Is Us’ Gerald McRaney, and Maggie Lawson.

In more Netflix news, the streaming giant released the official trailer to the new limited series Collateral. The series stars Carey Mulligan, Billie Piper, and John Simm. View the trailer below!

Netflix also released a trailer for season 2 of DreamWorks Trolls: The Beat Goes On. The animated series stars the voices of Amanda Leighton and Skylar Astin. View the trailer below!

Finally, the new Amazon Studios trailer for The Dangerous Book for Boys has been released. The series is an adaptation of Conn and Hal Iggulden. The series premieres to Amazon Prime with a 6-episode season on March 30. View the trailer below!