In interestingly timed news, Ryan Murphy is leaving Netflix for Disney at the end of his five-year deal. He joined Netflix for a $300 million deal in 2018. So, he’s leaving quite soon. He and Shonda Rhimes were both big gets for Netflix, both having signed around the same time. And with Netflix, Ryan produced hits like Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story, The Politician, and Ratched. But like he left 20th Century Fox for Netflix’s greener pastures, now he’s leaving Netflix for Disney, for an unspecified sum.
Ryan Murphy will depart Netflix at the end of his five-year, nine-figure overall deal, and is set to make a new home at Disney.
The producer behind hits including Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story, 911 and American Horror Story is expecting to reunite with Dana Walden, who worked closely with Murphy when she headed what was then 20th Century Fox TV and he had a deal there. Walden, who is also one Murphy’s closest friends and confidants, is now co-chairman of Disney Entertainment. The new, not yet completed pact — Murphy’s Netflix deal doesn’t expire until the end of the month, after all — will bring Murphy back in-house with FX’s John Landgraf, with whom he has long had a close creative relationship, as well. Sources say the move has been in the works since well before the Writers Guild of America went on strike in May.
Disney declined to comment.
Murphy famously left 20th in 2018 for a $300 million deal at Netflix, becoming — along with Shonda Rhimes — one of the biggest producers to sign with the streamer. Snagging a producer who had once declared he’d be buried on the Fox lot was seen as a major coup for Netflix and Ted Sarandos at the time. But Murphy’s early years at the streaming service proved rocky, with efforts like Hollywood, Halston and feature film The Prom failing to cut through. The past year has been the most fruitful of the deal, with Dahmer and The Watcher, both of which he co-created with longtime collaborator Ian Brennan, becoming breakout hits for the streamer.
During his tenure at Netflix — which also included The Politician, Ratched and The Boys in the Band — Murphy also continued to produce popular franchises for 20th that predated his departure. In addition to American Horror Story and 911, his output for 20th TV included FX’s ongoing American Crime Story anthology, Pose and Feud, which has a second season is in the works. The arrangement had long baffled many in town, particularly in the early days, when his Netflix projects weren’t hitting and the 20th fare were. According to multiple insiders, the summer 2021 announcement that Murphy would also be producing an American Sports Story and American Love Story via and for Disney entities did not sit well with Sarandos.
Now, in an ironic twist, Murphy will continue producing installments of Netflix hits Monster — another anthology, with season two focusing on the Menendez brothers — and Watcher for Sarandos, while calling Disney his creative home. Dealmaking terms are being kept under wraps, though the deal market has cooled considerably in five years.
There was an announcement in summer 2021 that Ryan would be working on a couple of series in his “American Story” franchise for Disney, that apparently didn’t go over well with Netflix brass. The THR article points out that he did struggle to find his footing with his early projects with Netflix, though eventually he hit his stride and his hits. But even with his deal with Disney, Ryan will continue to produce new seasons of his shows with Netflix as he did with his 20th shows during his Netflix deal. So fear not, fans of Ryan Murphy shows on Netflix. I am guessing the terms of the deal must be great, because otherwise I’m wondering why Disney. I haven’t seen every single Ryan Murphy show, but I have seen quite a few. And I wouldn’t have guessed Disney as a natural fit for his content. I think his stuff is a bit “edgier” and dare I say, more interesting, than typical Disney products. But sometimes unlikely collaborations yield the best results, so we’ll see.
Picture note by CB: This is Ryan Murphy, Bela Bajaria (chief content officer for Netflix), Ted Sarandos (CEO) and Peter Friedlander (head of scripted series) at the New York Premiere of Netflix’s The Watcher
Photos credit: Eric Liebowitz/Netflix, Getty images for Netflix and Avalon.red
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