Rental streaming juggernaut Netflix has finally begun to enter the world of original programming after several years since it began its video on demand service, dubbed "Watch Instantly." Recently, Neowin reported Hollywood was beginning to fear that Netflix would become the dominant player in the streaming video market and as such would be able to dictate how that market will fluctuate. It seems, however, that the company is quite all right with cutting out the middleman entirely.
According to Deadline, Netflix, which has previously stated it wasn't interested in producing original content, has outbid both HBO and AMC for Media Rights Capital's (MRC) drama television series House of Cards. The show was reportedly bought by Netflix for a cool $100 million with a two-season commitment of 26 episodes total. Airing, or streaming, and marketing its own original content would certainly prove a challenge to Netflix and test the company's abilities. The deal would allow the show to go straight to series without piloting, virtually unheard of in traditional television business, though MRC is known for having produced content that has gone straight to series.
MRC is an independent film company responsible for producing movies such as the acclaimed Babel and the more recent The Adjustment Bureau and is also behind several television series, the most successful of which was Rita Rocks; the company has also produced webseries such as Seth MacFarlane's Cavalcade of Cartoon Comedy.
House of Cards is executive produced by and starring Kevin Spacey and executive produced and directed by David Fincher (who recently made The Social Network); the pilot would mark Fincher's television directorial debut. The show is based on the book and British miniseries of the same name.
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