More than two years after the final credits rolled on ‘The Crown,’ Netflix is getting ready to open the palace gates again. The streaming service has closed a big deal with producer Left Bank Pictures to make a prequel to the hit show, according to several sources.
The new project goes back nearly fifty years, covering the time from Queen Victoria’s death in 1901 to the wedding of the future Queen Elizabeth II in 1947.
Netflix’s ‘The Crown’ Prequel Reported Budget
If it happens, the spinoff will cover the gap between two of the longest reigns in British history, showing the end of the Victorian age and the rise of the House of Windsor through the rules of Kings Edward VII, George V, Edward VIII, and George VI.
The deal is said to be worth up to £500 million, or about $676 million. That shows how much Netflix wants to keep using the royal story that won 24 Emmy Awards over six seasons.
Peter Morgan Returns as ‘The Crown’ Creator for Prequel
Creator and showrunner Peter Morgan is expected to come back to run the show. Morgan had previously said he did not want to move the story into the modern era, especially the years after 2000. He told The Hollywood Reporter in 2024 that it felt “too soon.”
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Instead, he had talked for a while about going back in time. “If you go back in time, you always have that wonderful opportunity for metaphor,” Morgan told the outlet. “You can find a story in the past and tell that, and it [will] actually be a story about the present, but in camouflage. And that, I think, might be a more elegant way forward.”
‘The Crown’ Prequel Plot and Production Update
The prequel will cover a time of huge world change, including both World Wars, the abdication crisis of 1936 when King Edward VIII gave up the throne for the American divorcée Wallis Simpson, and the start of the modern Royal Family.
According to insiders, things are already moving. “Netflix has been locked in negotiations with the company for quite a long time about this spin-off series, but they’ve recently finally managed to seal the deal and come to an agreement,” a source told The Daily Mail. The source added that Morgan has already started writing, and casting is expected to happen next year.
The original ‘The Crown,’ which starred Claire Foy, Olivia Colman, and Imelda Staunton as Queen Elizabeth II, ended in 2023 with Season 6. Insiders say the prequel could run for several seasons, but Netflix has not yet made an official announcement about when production will start.
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