Netflix Chief Teases Meghan Markle and Prince Harry's Upcoming Projects, from Movie to Unscripted Shows
Chief Content Officer Bela Bajaria shared what the Duke and Duchess of Sussex are working on at the Next on Netflix event
Meghan Markle and Prince Harry have a number of projects in the works for Netflix.
Netflix's Chief Content Officer Bela Bajaria revealed at the Next on Netflix event on Wednesday that the Duke and Duchess of Sussex have several works in development for the streamer.
"They have a couple of unscripted things they're working on with Brandon [Reigg]," Bajaria said, according to Hello! magazine.
"And they actually have like a bunch of development," she continued, the outlet reports. "They have a movie in development, a [scripted] series that they're working on. So all very early development, with a movie, a TV show and a couple of unscripted shows. But yeah, the movie's great."
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After stepping back from their royal roles and moving to Meghan's home state of California in 2020, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex signed a multiyear deal with Netflix. At the time, The New York Times reported that the couple's production hub, later named Archewell Productions, would exclusively create documentaries, docuseries, feature films, scripted shows and children's programming for the platform.
In December 2022, their series Harry & Meghan provided a look at their love story as well as their lives as members of the British royal family and their decision to leave the U.K. The intimate six-episode series became the biggest documentary debut week in Netflix history.
Weeks later, the documentary series Live to Lead hit Netflix, with Meghan and Prince Harry serving as executive producers. Although the couple appeared in the trailer for the show, they did not appear in the series as it featured activists such as U.S. Supreme Court Associate Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, climate change activist Greta Thunberg, New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern, feminist leader Gloria Steinem and more.
Heart of Invictus, which premiered in August, followed the athletes at Prince Harry's Invictus Games for service personnel as they prepared for the 2020 Invictus Games in The Hague, the Netherlands, which was postponed to April 2022 because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
In August, author Carley Fortune confirmed that Archewell Productions is adapting her romance novel Meet Me at the Lake for Netflix.
“I’m so thrilled about working with Netflix and Archewell to bring Meet Me at the Lake to the screen,” she said in a statement. “Will and Fern’s love story is dear to my heart, and I can’t imagine a more perfect partnership,” she added, referencing the protagonists whose story shares similarities with Prince Harry, 39, and Meghan, 42.
Meghan is also a fixture on Netflix through Suits, the USA show that she starred in before marrying Prince Harry. The legal drama has had a resurgence and a new audience since being added to the platform's lineup.
While Meghan and Prince Harry's Archewell Audio parted ways with Spotify in June after releasing one season of Meghan’s Archetypes podcast, a Netflix spokesperson confirmed to PEOPLE that the streamer was continuing their work with Archewell Productions.
"We value our partnership with Archewell Productions," a Netflix spokesperson told PEOPLE in June following the Spotify news. "Harry & Meghan was Netflix's biggest documentary debut ever, and we'll continue to work together on a number of projects, including the upcoming documentary series Heart of Invictus."
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While Harry & Meghan was a success, there have also been "serious growing pains" in show business, as senior media strategist Joe Quenqua previously told PEOPLE. Heart of Invictus and Live to Lead both failed to make a major splash, while an animated project they were developing called Pearl, about a girl inspired by female leaders, was quietly dropped in 2022.
"The royal element and, in some ways, the drama around them inflated the price, deals and expectations," said a top Hollywood insider.
The couple remains focused on their Archewell Foundation, which has dedicated considerable resources to youth mental health, online safety and the intersection of social justice and technology. Meghan also signed with power agency William Morris Endeavor last year.
"Has their final chapter been written? Absolutely not," an industry executive told PEOPLE. "Hollywood loves a comeback."
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