Peter Morgan Reportedly Planning 'Patriots' Film for Netflix

When Netflix greenlit The Crown in 2014, it was still in its earliest phase of original programming, with high-flying claims about making shows that would never be canceled and projects aimed at proving itself the King of Prestige Television. However, nothing quite hit the heights of ambition like the royal soap: Six seasons were given the go-ahead from the jump, each one to run ten episodes that would cover a decade of the current living ruler of the U.K.'s reign, with three casts full casts to change out every two years, rather than attempting to "age up" one cast over six years of filming. The fact that the show came even close to that initially stated plan is a testament to creator Peter Morgan's determination to see it through. That audiences tuned in the way they did was proof the series, at least in concept, was sound. Naturally, spinoffs have been discussed since the moment the finale arrived.

Six months after Season 6's end, those rumors seem to have coalesced around the conventional wisdom that Morgan would rewind to the past, pre-Edward VIII, whose story was mainly covered throughout The Crown. Currently, theories seem to hold that Morgan will slot himself in between PBS' major historical dramas that involve royalty, Victoria (set in the 1830s and 40s) and Downton Abbey (set in the 1910s and 20s), and set the spinoff at the end of the 1890s, and Victoria's reign, when Edward VII, after decades of wastrel partying, suddenly found himself King.

However, new reports suggest that while that project is in the works, it is not Morgan's priority at the streamer. Instead, Deadline has it that Morgan is readying a film adaptation of his current theatrical production, Patriots. The production wowed audiences when it played in London in 2023 and is now doing a sold-out engagement on Broadway. It should be noted that Netflix funded this move, the streaming service's first time sponsoring a Broadway production.