By Dan Barrett
During a keynote address delivered at the CES trade show in Las Vegas, Netflix screened a sizzle video offering a first look at the upcoming UK drama The Crown. Written by The Queen writer Peter Morgan, the series charts the life of Queen Elizabeth II with every season expected to focus on a decade of her life. A 50-part run is currently expected for the series.
The first season will focus on her early years as she is crowned and forges a friendship with then Prime Minister Winston Churchill. Claire Foy stars as Elizabeth, alongside Matt Smith, John Lithgow, Victoria Hamilton, Jared Harris, Vanessa Kirby, and Dame Eileen Atkins.
[ot-video type=”youtube” url=”https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n8Q0bJ_zO7w”]
At the CES event, Netflix chief executive Reed Hastings reported that Netflix was now available in 150 countries globally. While US law prevents it from expanding into North Korea, Syria, and Crimea, the streaming video company is seeking to launch its service into China where it is in talks with their government.
Hastings told the CES audience, “It’s a very large country – you know a billion Chinese that we want to give access to the Netflix content.
“In China you need specific permission from the government to operate, so we are continuing to work on that and we are very patient.”
Footage was also screened for the new Baz Luhrmann series The Get Down.