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Ryan Murphy to Leave Fox in Deal Said to Be Worth Up to $300 Million

Feb 13, 2018  •  Post A Comment

The mega producer Ryan Murphy, whose popular and critically acclaimed hits range from “Glee” to “American Horror Story” to “American Crime Story: The People vs. O.J. Simpson,”  is moving his production offices from Fox to Netflix, according to reports in The New York Times, Deadline.com and The Hollywood Reporter.

In his Times story, John Kobin writes: “The five-year deal is worth as much as $300 million, according to two people with knowledge of the deal, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss private negotiations. That would be one of the biggest deals ever made for a television producer.”

Notes THR in its story, by Lesley Goldberg: “Netflix made the announcement late Tuesday that Murphy and his Ryan Murphy Productions banner will produce new series and films for the streaming giant effective July 1, when his deal with 20th Television expires.”

Goldberg also writes: “The Netflix deal arrives after Murphy said he was taking a ‘wait-and-see’ approach to determining his future with 20th Television in the wake of the studio’s pending sale to Disney. (That $52 billion deal is awaiting regulatory approval.) Murphy is said to have had several deals on the table, including from all three streaming services as well as a multiple-year offer from 20th Television to stay in what sources estimate was a $35 million-$40 million annual pact. Given the television studio’s uncertain future amid a pending Disney acquisition, Murphy opted for the [Shonda] Rhimes-like Netflix deal. Murphy’s departure from 20th Television comes as a blow to Disney, who lost Rhimes to the streaming giant last year in a deal worth what sources say was $100 million.”

Nellie Andreeva, in the Deadline story, writes that back when the Disney/Fox deal was announced, “Murphy said that he had received a phone call from [Disney CEO Robert] Iger, reiterating that Disney was interested in what he had created in the sophisticated adult TV space. ‘The stuff that I do isn’t specifically Disney,’ Murphy said. ‘I was concerned: Do I have to start putting Mickey Mouse in “American Horror Story?”’”

Netflix, which has already had hits with original series such as “Stranger Things,” is a place where Murphy would likely feel more comfortable.

To read a lot more about this item, please click here to read about it in The New York Times, here to read about it in THR, and here to read the story at Deadline.com.

In the following short video, which we found on YouTube (posted several years ago by THR), Murphy answers 10 questions about his life and career:

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