Netflix confirmed on 9 July that Collet-Serra has signed a wide-ranging production agreement covering feature development, directing and producing duties for its global service, a step the company says will “keep our momentum going” after their recent collaboration. The pact places the 51-year-old filmmaker in an elite circle that includes David Fincher and Noah Baumbach, two of the few other directors with comparable arrangements at the platform.
The move follows the outsize success of Carry-On, an airport-set thriller that has drawn 185 million views since December and now ranks behind only Red Notice among Netflix originals. Collet-Serra’s experience on that project, he said, demonstrated that the streamer “knows how to deliver big, high-stakes stories that audiences love,” a sentiment echoed by Netflix film vice-president Doug Belgrad.
First on the new slate is An Innocent Girl, a Washington-set psychological thriller produced with Berlanti/Schechter Films; the story follows an ambitious woman drawn into a web of sex, power and murder. Additional projects in active development include a reboot of 1993’s Cliffhanger—now shooting with Lily James and Pierce Brosnan—while Collet-Serra’s completed suspense drama The Woman in the Yard awaits release.
Industry analysts view the agreement as part of Netflix’s strategy to secure marquee storytellers amid intense content competition; a running tally shows dozens of similar first-look or exclusive deals now in place across the streamer’s film and series divisions. By formalising its relationship with the Barcelona-born director—whose résumé ranges from horror hit Orphan to Disney’s Jungle Cruise—Netflix signals confidence that his brand of muscular, audience-friendly thrillers can translate into repeat engagement for its 270-million-plus subscribers.
