Jay and Mark Duplass have signed a new four-picture deal with Netflix, which will start with an untitled film starring Ray Romano, Netflix announced Wednesday.
Netflix’s relationship with the Duplass brothers goes back to their first feature film, “The Puffy Chair,” which Netflix’s Red Envelope Entertainment co-distributed in 2005. In 2015, Netflix signed an SVOD deal with the brothers that included “Blue Jay,” “Take Me” and “Creep 2,” as well as the upcoming “Duck Butter” and “Outside In.”
The previous agreement gave Netflix exclusive worldwide SVOD distribution rights after a short theatrical window.
The “Untitled Duplass Brothers Ray Romano Project” will be released later this year and is a bittersweet bromance about friendship, mortality, and “made-up sports.” Alex Lehmann will direct the project, which he co-wrote with Mark Duplass.
Mel Eslyn, president of Duplass Brothers, is producing with Alana Carithers and Sean Bradley.
“Jay and Mark are the most enterprising filmmakers in the business,” said Ian Bricke, director of independent film at Netflix. “They have embraced Netflix as much as our subscribers have embraced their films. Having worked with Mark and Jay for over a decade, we have huge admiration for their creative passion and filmmaking smarts. We are thrilled for this next chapter of our relationship.”
The Duplass brothers added, “Turns out when you make films for Netflix, millions of people all over the world watch them. This is not a terrible thing for an independent filmmaker. As Netflix continues to grow and develop new ways to reach viewers, we couldn’t be more thrilled to grow our partnership.”
The brothers also executive produced Netflix’s upcoming documentary series, “Wild Wild Country,” which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival and will be available on the service March 16.