‘Gotham’: New Live-Action Batman Show Coming To Netflix

Three weeks before Gotham is set to premiere on Fox, it’s already made a deal to stream on Netflix. The video streaming giant and Warner Bros. Worldwide Television Distribution announced the deal late last night.

According to the L.A. Times, Netflix has grabbed the video-on-demand rights to the highly anticipated show which is based on the Batman universe of characters, with a focus on Jim Gordon in his early years as a young detective.

The move, experts say, is part of an aggressive, comprehensive plan by Netflix to amass an enormous library of movies and television shows to become and remain the world’s dominant streaming service. Netflix has been bulking up on its international fare, and the addition of Gotham to the original DC superhero programs it has planned such as Daredevil, will give it a large position in the present, hot superhero market.

There’s no word on the fiscal intricacies of the deal between Netflix and the company behind Gotham, but insiders say it’s a risky move at any cost. Gotham hasn’t even premiered yet, so no one really knows hows audiences will react to the show and in what numbers. On the flip side, the show has some great buzz about it, and anything connected to Bruce Wayne/Batman is sure to get viewers.

For Warner Bros., the creator of the program, the deal with Netflix helps to offset costs needed to create the show, giving them a cushion of sorts that might allow the writers, actors and directors a bit more freedom to do what they want with the show – something that usually benefits a program’s quality.

According to Deadline, Warner Bros. President of Worldwide Television Distribution, Jeffrey R. Schlesinger, said about the deal:

In this new era of business models and expanding windows, this is an unprecedented deal for our company and our industry. We have licensed this very special series to Netflix on a multi-territory basis. Netflix is a perfect home for Gotham following its initial broadcast in each respective country, giving Netflix subscribers the opportunity to catch up prior to the new season, whether they are already fans or discovering it for the first time.

Gotham features Ben McKenzie as Detective James Gordon, the eventual police commissioner and friend of Batman, David Mazouz as an elementary school-aged Bruce Wayne, Donal Logue as Gordon’s shady partner, Harvey Bullock, Jada Pinkett Smith as criminal underworld boss, Fish Mooney and Sean Pertwee as the Wayne family butler, Alfred Pennyworth.

Season one of Gotham is set to air on Netflix next year, after the first season has already wrapped on Fox.

image via Movie Pilot