Netflix Pacts For ‘The Killing’ Season 3

After lengthy negotiations, Netflix has closed a deal with The Killing producer Fox Television Studios for the upcoming third season of the mystery drama, which premieres on AMC later this year. Under the pact, Netflix will be the exclusive subscription TV service for The Killing Season 3 and will begin streaming it three months after the third-season finale airs on AMC. That is an unusually short window for SVOD distribution of a cable series, which is usually tied to a season’s release on DVD around the following season’s premiere — about a year after the original TV run. I hear getting The Killing early was important for Netflix and key in getting the streaming service on board. The complete Season 2 of The Killing became available to Netflix members in the U.S. yesterday, joining Season 1, which launched on Netflix in 2012. “We’re excited to see The Killing back on TV and we’re especially proud to bring Season 3 to our members so soon after it premieres on AMC,” said Ted Sarandos, Netflix’s Chief Content Officer. “The Killing is a terrific serialized drama and we know our members love these high-quality shows.”

Fox TV Studios president David Madden said that the agreement with Netflix “played an extremely significant part in the studio’s strategy that enabled us to bring The Killing back for a third season.” Indeed, after AMC originally opted not to order a third season, FtvS held complex parallel talks with AMC and Netflix, with a second revenue stream from Netflix in addition to the license fee from AMC allowing the studio to proceed with production on Season 3, which is currently underway. The Netflix pact comes two months after FtvS closed a deal with AMC for a third season renewal of The Killing. “Our showrunner, Veena Sud, has plunged our principals into new and dangerous worlds, with wicked twists and a climactic end-of-season resolution, and our acclaimed cast, including Mireille Enos, Joel Kinnaman and new cast member Peter Sarsgaard, are already thrillingly bringing it to life,” Madden said.

Based on the Danish series Forbrydelsen, The Killing follows various murder investigations led by homicide detectives Sarah Linden (Mireille Enos) and Stephen Holder (Joel Kinnaman). After the close of the Rosie Larsen case, covered over the first two seasons of the series, Season 3 picks up one year later, with Linden no longer a detective. When ex-partner Holder’s search for a runaway girl leads him to discover a gruesome string of murders that connects to a previous murder investigation by Linden, she is drawn back into the life she thought she’d left behind.