Prince Harry and Meghan Markle inked a reported $100 million deal with Netflix back in 2020 that is in place until 2025—and it’s currently unclear if the partnership between the Sussexes and the streaming giant will be renewed (and if either side is even interested in that).
Since striking the deal, the couple has released their eponymous six-part docuseries, Harry & Meghan, to big numbers in the latter part of 2022; Harry has also released the documentary Heart of Invictus last August, and the couple are currently producing a film adaptation of Carley Fortune’s novel Meet Me at the Lake. Other rumored projects include possible lifestyle content from Meghan and a documentary on Africa from Harry.
After Harry and Meghan’s $20 million Spotify deal was axed last summer, questions have persisted about whether their Netflix deal will meet the same fate. The Mirror reports that Harry and Meghan “don’t seem confident about the future” of their deal, “with time running out for it to be renewed,” the publication writes. The five-year contract will end next year, “and it’s yet to be confirmed if it will be renewed,” The Mirror reports.
Public relations expert Ryan McCormick said, per The Mirror, that the Sussexes don’t seem “overly confident that it will last” after they failed to mention their Netflix deal on their revamped website for Archewell Productions. (In all fairness, the Sussexes also don’t mention Meghan’s brand-new podcast deal with Lemonada Media, where she is producing a “dynamic” new podcast after severing ties with Spotify; Lemonada will also take “Archetypes,” Meghan’s show with Spotify, and release it more broadly.)
A statement on Archewell Productions’ site reads “At Archewell Productions, we believe that stories have the power to unite and inspire audiences around the globe. Founded in 2020 by Prince Harry and Meghan, The Duke and Duchess of Sussex, our company is dedicated to illuminating thought-provoking and diverse narratives that underscore our common humanity and celebrate community.” It also adds that Harry and Meghan are working on “scripted and non-scripted TV, film, documentaries, and podcasting,” but fails to go into any specifics.
“Why Meghan and Harry haven’t discussed their Netflix deal could be for a number of reasons,” McCormick said. “One of them is that they may not be legally permitted to do so. If that’s not the case, the duo may be cautious about discussing the arrangement because they’re not overly confident that it will last.”
As ever, Harry and Meghan have been criticized for their Netflix partnership (aren’t they criticized for, well, pretty much everything?), specifically their explosive docuseries, directed by respected filmmaker Liz Garbus. “For all the criticism that the Duchess and Duke have received, I think their silence on certain matters is serving them both very well recently,” McCormick said.
All of this said, a tally on the positive side of the coin comes from Netflix’s chief content officer Bela Bajaria, who seemed confident in the content the Sussexes were bringing to the table: “They actually have a bunch in development,” Bajaria said last month at a Netflix event announcing upcoming projects. “They have a couple of unscripted things they’re working on with Brandon [Reigg]. And they actually have, like, a bunch of development, they have a movie in development, a [scripted] series that they’re working on.”
Bajaria emphasized that the projects are “all very early development”; she also seemed excited about the film—presumably Meet Me at the Lake—adding that the “movie’s great.” Though she didn’t offer further details, the “unscripted” projects are thought to be documentaries, The Mirror reports.
Meghan herself said in November, while attending Variety’s Power of Women event in L.A., that the pipeline was full for her and Harry: she said that they were working on “Things that make people feel—I was going to say ‘good,’ but it’s more than that,” she said. “Things that make people feel something, right? And feel a sense of community. But we have so many exciting things on the slate. I can’t wait until we can announce them, but I’m just really proud of what we’re creating. My husband is loving it, too. It’s really fun.”
