*Netflix has ordered a second season of its hit series “Wednesday.”
The Tim Burton-directed series starring Jenna Ortega is now ranked the third most-watched English-language show on the streaming platform. As Deadline reports, “Wednesday” crossed the 1B hours viewed mark in less than a month following its debut in late November.
When Netflix failed to immediately announce a series 2 pick-up, fans assumed it was because Amazon studios was gearing up to take over the title following its merger with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) that was announced last year. As Just Jared reports, “MGM owns the rights to The Addams Family, meaning Amazon theoretically could have first dibs for the show to be on Amazon’s Prime Video streaming service for season 2,” the outlet writes.
Prior to Netflix’s announcement on Friday that season 2 is in the works Peter Friedlander, head of U.S. and Canada scripted series, was asked if “Wednesday” was getting renewed. He told Variety, “You may know what I’m going to say — but I have nothing to confirm at this time. I am optimistic about Wednesday. We’ll leave it at that.”
READ MORE: Tim Burton’s ‘Wednesday’ Series Has Second-Biggest Week Ever Recorded by Nielsen
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Friedlander added, “Weirdly, because it feels different, but we’re just two weeks into the launch of Wednesday. So we’re still really at the beginning of this cultural phenomenon. And there’s a lot to absorb and learn about it. It’s striking how quick something like this can explode on Netflix, and there is a lot you want to hear back from fans and audiences. It’s not just the dance, it’s people dressing up and buying makeup and wanting to look like Wednesday Addams,” he explained.
He continued, “The resurgence, for me, it’s something that’s been in the culture for a long time — but never this pronounced. It’s something that we want to study and understand why this is such a phenomenon. And I think so much of it is Jenna’s extraordinary performance at the center. But that supporting cast, across the board, are legends: Gwendoline Christie, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Luis Guzmán and Christina Ricci!”
Friedlander went on to note, “The marketing approach to Wednesday was sizzling. Whether it was the billboards that say, ‘Honk if you’re dead inside,’ or you’re at the airport and you saw those TSA messages inside the bucket, it was everywhere and they really contributed to making it such a hit.”
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