EXCLUSIVE : A high-profile Spike Jonze series at Netflix that has been shrouded in secrecy is not going forward at the streamer — at least for the foreseeable future, sources tell Deadline. No information about the ambitious project was ever officially released, but the limited series is believed to be produced by Sister and had been in the works at Netflix for more than two years, with the streamer commissioning a writers room and exploring castings over that period. It is unclear whether anyone else besides Jonze was ever formally attached to the show; various names rumored for possible involvement over the past year or so include actors Joaquin Phoenix and Brad Pitt as well as director Halina Reijn.
As of this past summer, the series was said to be eyeing a casting director and a potential 2025 start. Nobody is commenting on the circumstances surrounding the U-turn. I hear Jonze may be driving it by a decision to step back from the project.
According to sources, the door is not completely closed, so it is possible for the show to be revived should Jonze opt to do it. This would’ve marked Jonze’s first narrative TV series; he has worked in the unscripted space as the co-creator/executive producer of MTV’s Jackass and in his role as creative director at Vice Media. A respected filmmaker, Jonze has done four movies over the past 25 years: 1999’s Being John Malkovich, 2002’s Adaptation, 2009’s Where the Wild Things Are and 2013’s Her , for which he won the Orig.