Shortly after Cloud Atlas had its triumphant premiere at the Toronto Film Festival—and shortly before it became of a box-office calamity of Rabin-baiting proportions—we passed along the news that Andy and Lana Wachowski were looking to bring the expansive storytelling of that film and The Matrix trilogy to the small screen. There are few networks with the ambition and resources to accommodate the Wachowskis, but they’ve found one in Netflix, which has agreed to produce 10 episodes of Sense8 to air in late 2014. Conceived in collaboration with Babylon 5 creator J. Michael Straczynski, Sense8 is described, in typically vague Wachowskian terms, as “a global story of minds linked and souls hunted.” Sounds expensive, but after dropping $100 million on House Of Cards and declaring it a huge success, Netflix appears ready to throw more money around on filmmakers who are excellent at spending it.
According to the press release, the Wachowskis are excited about working with Straczynski and Netflix, and Netflix CEO Ted Sarandos is excited to work with the Wachowskis and Straczynski. Does Straczynski share in Sarandos’ and the Wachowskis’ excitement? Yes, he does.