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Updated 1/7/15: Speaking to reporters at TCA, Netflix‘s Ted Sarandos said: “We’re really excited about the proposition about getting the show back together. More to come.”
Previously: Netflix is looking to revive another beloved comedy.
The streaming service is in talks for a prequel series based on the cult movie Wet Hot American Summer sources confirm to The Hollywood Reporter.
Netflix is said to be near a deal with movie creators David Wain and Michael Showalter for a prequel series reuniting the all-star cast from the film in which they would play high school-age characters.
PHOTOS: Movies That Became TV Shows
Released by Universal Pictures in 2001, the summer camp film featured a cast of then-rising stars, including Janeane Garofalo, David Hyde Pierce, Paul Rudd, Molly Shannon, Christopher Meloni, Elizabeth Banks, Michael Ian Black, Bradley Cooper and Amy Poehler, among others. The film was a box-office flop — grossing less than $300,000 — but has since become a cult favorite on DVD.
Wain and Showalter would pen the prequel for Netflix, with Universal mulling boarding the project. Netflix declined comment.
The potential Netflix series comes after Showalter had repeatedly said he was prepping a follow-up to the movie. “We are working on a prequel; it’s six months to a year earlier than when the original movie was — except the actors playing those characters are 10 years older,” Showalter said during a 2012 interview with Geeking Out With Kerri Doherty.
For Netflix, reviving Wet Hot American Summer would come after the company brought back another cult hit: Arrested Development. The prequel series could also join a roster of original scripted programming at the company that thus far is light on comedy beyond Orange Is the New Black, Derek and its upcoming Jane Fonda–Lily Tomlin entry, Grace and Frankie.
The news comes as Netflix is also contemplating another new series — royal drama The Crown — from Stephen Daldry and Peter Morgan.
Email: Lesley.Goldberg@THR.com
Twitter: @Snoodit
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