10 future Netflix shows you didn't know it was making

Netflix is making so many new movies and shows at any given time that it's hard to keep track. That's not a bad thing. In fact, it means that every time a new title surprises you by launching on the streaming service out of nowhere, it's one more thing you can potentially add to your watch list.

While the world of TV and film production is currently at a halt for the most part, save for animated series and projects shot in countries that aren't as badly affected by the global health crisis, Netflix has plenty in the works for the coming years. Below is just a handful of the projects that the streaming service has in production.

We picked these out because we think they're worth having on your radar, either because of their stars, behind-the-scenes talent or interesting source material. 

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Inventing Anna

You might remember this widely-circulated and fascinating New York Magazine article about a woman pretending to be an heiress, who infiltrated the wealthy social circles of New York City and committed grand larceny. Grey's Anatomy creator Shonda Rhimes is adapting the article for Netflix, and this limited series will star Julia Garner and Veep's Anna Chlumsky. 

Midnight Mass

Midnight Mass is about an island community that's disrupted by the coming of a priest, whose appearance marks the island's residents experiencing both miracles and omens. If it's hard to get a grasp of why that's exciting, consider that it's a new genre series from The Haunting of Hill House team of Mike Flanagan and Trevor Macy. Zach Gilford, Hamish Linklater, Rahul Kohli and Henry Thomas are among its attractive cast. 

One Piece

You've probably already heard about Netflix's adaptation of the popular anime Cowboy Bebop, which will star John Cho, but you might've missed the fact that it's making a live-action version of the extremely popular pirate manga One Piece, too. Creator Eiichiro Oda will play a part in the 10-part series' creation. Hopefully it'll be better received than Netflix's Death Note adaptation, which got mostly negative reviews. 

Jupiter's Legacy

In 2017, Netflix bought Mark Millar's publishing line Millarworld, including the rights to his creator-owned comic books. The thinking, we assume, was that if Disney's going make its own Marvel series, why not just buy your own version of Marvel? One of five projects announced as part of the deal is this series, which is about multiple generations of superheroes, and how the present day children of '30s golden age heroes deal with their legacy. 

The pilot is directed by IT's Andy Muschietti, and the cast features Josh Duhamel and Leslie Bibb. It's likely to be the first Netflix project based on one of Millar's works to see the light of day, since it finished filming back in January. 

American Jesus

The second TV series based on a work by Millar (as well as artist Peter Gross), American Jesus is about the supposed return of Christ in the form of a young man, who can perform many of the miracles associated with the son of god. Water into wine? No problem. This is a multilingual show that'll be presented in English and Spanish.

Pieces of Her

Karin Slaughter's 2018 novel is about a woman called Laura who's spent 30 years in hiding, until a terrible incident surfaces some unwanted truths about her past to her daughter. As mentioned above, Toni Collette will star in this Netflix drama along with Bella Heathcote, which was due to shoot in March 2020 but has since been delayed for obvious reasons. 

White Stork

Tom Hiddleston stars as an up-and-coming politician in this drama, whose ambitions are about to be derailed by secrets from his past that are uncovered in a vetting process, just before he runs for parliament. As well as White Stork, Hiddleston, of course, is also starring in the Loki spin-off on Disney Plus. 

Mulligan

This is a 20-episode animated series from 30 Rock writers Tina Fey, Sam Means and Robert Carlock. Mulligan is about Earth's survivors starting civilization again after an alien race destroys everything, an idea that should be amazing in these creators' hands. It was only announced in March 2020, so you might have a long wait for this one yet. Netflix could always do with more adult animated series after the demise of Bojack Horseman and Tuca and Bertie (though it still has Matt Groening's Disenchantment). 

Stateless

This Australian immigration dentention center drama, co-starring and co-created by Cate Blanchett, is inspired by a true story of a resident who ended up trapped in one of these places. Check out the trailer for this six-part series above, which also stars Yvonne Strahovski (The Handmaid's Tale) and Jai Courtney (Suicide Squad). It's not actually a Netflix production, but the streaming service is distributing the show outside of Australia.

The Sandman

Okay, you probably did hear that Netflix is adapting Neil Gaiman's acclaimed Vertigo comic for the small screen. If you're not familiar with the comic, though, it's less likely you'll know why this is exciting. Sandman is about Morpheus, or the Lords of Dreams, basically the personification of the concept of dreaming. 

It's a bizarre, fantastical and engrossing series set in the DC Universe, and its long run means there are plenty of potential stories to be told, here. David S Goyer (the Dark Knight movies, Man of Steel) and Allan Heinberg (Wonder Woman) are working with Gaiman on the adaptation. 

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