Netflix has big plans for 2015 originals

Gary Levin | USA TODAY

House of Cards and Orange Is the New Black have made big splashes for Netflix, winning fans, critical raves, Emmy nominations and new customers. And the New Year brings a more accelerated stream of original series to the service's 53 million worldwide subscribers.

If 2013 was a "toe in the water" and 2014 was a development year, 2015 "brings us about halfway to our hopes and plans of what kind of projects are feasible," says Chief Content Officer Ted Sarandos, who will detail these plans to TV critics Wednesday. "We can successfully support about 20 original scripted series every year, with a new series or a new season every two to three weeks, and still maintain a level of quality we expect."

In addition to new seasons of Cards (Feb. 27) and The Fall (Jan. 16), a BBC series starring Gillian Anderson, spring will bring Bloodline (March 20), a family thriller from the creators of Damages; Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt (March 6), a Tina Fey-produced sitcom acquired from NBC; andMarvel's Daredevil (April 10), the first of five planned series from the comic-book king.

Orange returns for a third season this summer, followed later this year by Sense8, a sci-fi series from the Wachowskis (The Matrix) and Narcos, a drama about cocaine cartels.

And on the original-movie front, a sequel to Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon is due this year, followed later by the first of several planned Adam Sandler movies in an exclusive pact.

International expansion is a key driver of Netflix's subscriber growth, but it doesn't dictate which shows get made. Yet Cards, a quintessentially American political thriller (but based on a British miniseries) is "outrageously popular in China," says Sarandos, who's "stunned at the level of success Orange has achieved" in markets where action fare in typically the biggest export. And while conventional wisdom says American comedy "doesn't travel very well, our data indicates otherwise."

Netflix continues to be a destination for theatrical movies and, especially, libraries of old TV shows. The entire Friends catalog went online last week, satisfying an urge, Sarandos says, for binge "comfort watching." And 70 kids shows are drawing 2 million viewers, a big priority to keep subscribers coughing up $7.99 a month, with more on the way, including updates on Care Bears and Magic School Bus.

Bloodline, a family drama/thriller set in the Florida Keys, stars Kyle Chandler, Sam Shepard and Sissy Spacek, and concerns the effect of a black-sheep son's return. It explores "what happens when a family turns on itself," says co-creator Glenn Kessler. As a producer, "When you have to wait a week to see the next episode, it can be challenging to know what you had to re-explain," he says. "The freedom of the Netflix model is that people are primed to watch dense storytelling."

Daredevil will be followed by Jessica Jones (Krysten Ritter), Iron Fist, Luke Cage (Mike Colter) and a combined Defenders series, each to be released about a year apart. Free of content restrictions, the shows have more "leeway" for violence and sex, "but people shouldn't come to this expecting me to deliver the Spartacus of Marvel," says Daredevil executive producer Steven DeKnight. But "we're able to explore morally gray areas, where you're rooting for the bad guy and questioning the good guy, which is more difficult on network TV."

Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt , originally produced by and for NBC, "would have struggled on any broadcast network," Sarandos says. "There are jokes in the show that would make a network executive squirm, and we embrace it."

Not all original series have resonated. Critics slammed the costly Marco Polo, released in December, as more Kung Fu than historical drama, though Sarandos says viewership is strong and he's renewed it for a second season: "I've never seen a bigger disparity between user reviews and critic reviews," he says, defending the series. "We want to have both, but if I had to choose between the two, I'd pick fans."

What's coming up on Netflix:

The Fall (Jan. 16): Gillian Anderson (The X-Files) stars in season 2 of the BBC drama about a police detective investigating murders in Belfast.

The Adventures of Puss in Boots (Jan. 16), the latest kids' series from DreamWorks Animation.

House of Cards (Feb. 27): Frank Underwood has finally achieved his quest for the presidency, but tensions mount with first lady Claire.

Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt (March 6): Ellie Kemper stars as a woman who leaves a cult after 15 years to start a new life in New York. Tina Fey and Robert Carlock (30 Rock) produce this comedy, originally set for NBC.

Bloodline (March 20): Sam Shepard and Sissy Spacek head a Florida Keys innkeeper family that unravels when a black-sheep son returns after a long-buried tragedy. Kyle Chandler and Linda Cardellini co-star.

Marvel's Daredevil (April 10): Matt Murdock (Charlie Cox) is a lawyer-turned-superhero daredevil by night in modern-day New York. Jessica Jones, Iron Fist, Luke Cage and a combined Defenders series will appear at roughly one-year intervals.

Grace and Frankie (May 8): Comedy from Marta Kauffman (Friends) stars Jane Fonda and Lily Tomlin as "frenemies" brought together when their husbands fall in love with each other.

Orange Is the New Black (summer): Season 3 picks up in the aftermath of Vee's death and the Litchfield prison's financial woes.

Sense8 (later this year): Eight characters in different cities are connected by a simultaneous "violent vision" in this drama from the Wachowskis (The Matrix).

Narcos (later this year): Drama about cocaine cartels and the lawmen who try to stop them.