Picture: Netflix
Archewell Productions, run by Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, is currently engaged with Netflix in a multi-year output content deal to produce movies, series, and specials. Here are all the currently available projects, what’s coming next, and what’s rumored or confirmed to be in development.
Over the years, Netflix has struck huge deals with various production companies, showrunners, and producers to make content exclusively for them. In September 2020, Netflix gained global headlines with its big deal with Archewell Productions.
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex signed a comprehensive output deal with Netflix with their newly formed production company, with some sources stating that they were offered $100 million for the deal. The deal runs through 2025.
Archewell’s website (which also lists the pair’s efforts outside of Netflix) states that Archewell “will utilize the power of storytelling to embrace our shared humanity and duty to truth through a compassionate lens.”
Available Archewell Productions Now Streaming on Netflix
Harry & Meghan
Released on Netflix: December 8th and December 15th, 2022
Picture: Netflix
The first project from the pair came in the form of a docu-series that looked back at their time within The Royal Family.
The documentary series was directed by Liz Garbus (What Happened, Miss Simone? and Britney vs. Spears) and was controversial, to say the least.
The docuseries was released over the course of two weeks and broke headlines around the world. It became Netflix’s top-performing documentary series just one week after its release.
Live to Lead
Type: Docu-series
Coming to Netflix: December 31st, 2022
Picture: Netflix
Releasing on New Year’s Eve in 2022 is the new 7-part documentary series looking at some of the extraordinary leaders in our lifetimes.
Among the people featured include:
- Climate activist Greta Thunberg
- Former U.S. Supreme Court Associate Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg
- New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern
- South Africa’s national rugby union team captain and social inequality campaigner Siya Kolisi
- Feminist icon and social justice activist Gloria Steinem
- Former Justice of the Constitutional Court of South Africa Albie Sach
- Social justice attorney and advocate Bryan Stevenson
The documentary series was produced by Blackwell & Ruth in association with Archewell Productions, Cinetic Media, and the Nelson Mandela Foundation.
Heart Of Invictus
Type: Docu-series
Coming to Netflix: 2023
Picture: Netflix
First announced in April 2021, Heart of Invictus was the first title to be announced to come out of the output deal.
For those unaware of what the Invictus Games are, they’re the equivalent of the Olympics but for wounded military service personnel. Prince Harry served as a founder of the international sporting event back in 2014.
The documentary series will follow athletes training for the next set of games which were postponed until 2022 in The Hague, Netherlands.
Behind the docuseries will be Oscar-winning director Orlando von Einsiedel and producer Joanna Natasegara (Evelyn, The White Helmets, Virunga).
Five 1-hour episodes will be released in total.
Rumored / In Development Archewell Productions Projects at Netflix
Bad Manners
Format: Scripted Series
Picture: Charles Dickens’s book
Slowly revealed over the summer of 2023, the duo will adapt the Charles Dickens novel Great Expectations, giving it a modern makeover.
The novel follows the life and experiences of the protagonist, Pip (Philip Pirrip), as he navigates the challenges of social class, ambition, and personal growth in Victorian England.
Netflix hasn’t officially confirmed the project, and they didn’t respond to our multiple attempts for comment.
Meet Me At The Lake
Format: Movie
Picture:
In August 2023, The Sun first reported that Archewell Productions had optioned (this means they’ve gotten the exclusive rights to adapt into a movie or series) Carley Fortune’s
The book’s story follows a couple who meet in their 30s dealing with childhood trauma, including losing a parent in a car crash, mental health challenges, and post-natal depression.
The coupled are rumored to have paid $3.8 million for the rights to the book, but Netflix has yet to comment on the project publicly officially.
Canceled Archewell Productions Titles No Longer at Netflix
Pearl
Type: Animated Series
This new animated series was set to be helmed by Amanda Rynda, known for DC Super Hero Girls and The Loud House.
The series will follow a 12-year-old girl on heroic adventures inspired by history’s most influential women.
Alongside the announcement of the animated series back in July 2021, Meghan released a statement with the following:
“Like many girls her age, our heroine Pearl is on a journey of self-discovery as she tries to overcome life’s daily challenges. I’m thrilled that Archewell Productions, partnered with the powerhouse platform of Netflix, and these incredible producers, will together bring you this new animated series, which celebrates extraordinary women throughout history. David Furnish and I have been eager to bring this special series to light, and I am delighted we are able to announce it today.”
The show was sadly canceled in 2022, among many other big cuts for Netflix’s animation department that saw nearly a dozen projects in development cut.
Are you looking forward to the upcoming slate of Archewell Productions titles on Netflix? Let us know in the comments.