EXCLUSIVE: Netflix’s plan to cook up a Willy Wonka reality competition series has moved to the next part of the factory.
Deadline understands that Fremantle-owned Eureka Productions has won the right to produce the show after a bake-off process.
The process has been taking place over the last few months with Eureka beating out a number of other production companies including Wall to Wall, the British production company behind Who Do You Think You Are?, Nobody’s Hero, the production company behind Netflix’s Bullsh*t: The Game Show, and The Garden, which was one of the companies behind Squid Game: The Challenge. It also beat out American Idol producer Fremantle, which was in the running for a separate bid to make the show out of its U.S. unscripted production arm.
As one source told Deadline it came down to “which pitch do we like the most?”.
Eureka has already done business with Netflix on a number of shows including The Mole, Australian reality series Byron Baes and Dating Around. It also produced Frogger for Peacock, and The Floor, The Quiz with Balls and Stars on Mars for Fox.
Eureka was founded around nine years ago by Chris Culvenor and Paul Franklin. Fremantle initially acquired a 25% stake before increasing to full ownership in 2022.
It’s not clear where the Willy Wonka reality competition series will film, but Eureka has built up a solid business by producing shows internationally, particularly in Australia.
The show comes after the streamer acquired the Roald Dahl Story Company in 2021.
The news also follows Netflix’s hiring of former NBCUniversal chief Jeff Gaspin as its new reality boss. Gaspin recently told Deadline that he wants to make bigger, broadcast-style shows with a focus on “fresh takes on the familiar”.
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