'Riverdale' Spinoff Is Coming to Netflix, Not CW
by EG
Riverdale, the teen drama based on the Archie comics, has been a big hit for The CW, and it got even bigger when the series began streaming on Netflix. That's part of the reason that the network passed the idea for a spinoff based on The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina comic series to Netflix instead of developing the series for itself. The other reason is that The CW wanted to concentrate on another supernatural series it had in the works, a reboot of the witch drama Charmed.
Warner Brothers Television was looking to expand its breakout hit Riverdale, the Archie Comics drama that has become The CW's second-most-watched series. But instead of staying with the network, the studio sold the offshoot to Netflix.
Based on the graphic novel The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina, the new series landed a two-season, 20-episode order at the streaming giant, where Riverdale has found success as part of a lucrative SVOD deal. Fueled by a summer Netflix run, Riverdale returned in October and saw its second-season opener surge an unprecedented 60 percent.
The Sabrina spinoff originally was developed at The CW, a co-venture between Warner Bros. and CBS, but the network is said to have been higher on another witchy drama in the pipeline: Charmed. The latter, a reboot from Jane the Virgin's Jennie Snyder Urman, is being redeveloped after missing a pilot pickup this past season. (Charmed will remain 100 percent owned by CBS Studios if it ultimately moves to series.)
The move to Netflix is widely considered a win within the halls of Warner Bros., as the platform switch — which was discussed first with The CW's board along with execs from both of its parent studios — allows Warners to retain 100 percent ownership of the series from WB-based producer Greg Berlanti. Had the Sabrina project remained at The CW, Warner Bros. would have had to share ownership — and, more importantly, profits — with corporate cousin CBS, as part of The CW's business model. (Riverdale is a co-production between the two.)
Get the rest of the story at The Hollywood Reporter.
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