Michael Jelenic and Aaron Horvath, the creators of “Teen Titans Go!” and directors of Illumination’s “Super Mario” movies, have entered into a creative partnership with Netflix that will see the duo develop animated series and films for the streaming service.
As part of the deal, Netflix have also signed a first look deal with Horvath and Jelenic on any live-action projects.
Along with grossing more than $2.25 billion for Universal at the global box office, Illumination’s “Mario” films have been and are set to continue to be major streaming hits for Netflix, which has a pay-one deal with Universal.
After its $1.36 billion theatrical run in 2023, “The Super Mario Bros. Movie” appeared in the Netflix global top 10 for 24 weeks and garnered over 240M views from December 2023 through the end of 2025, while the five seasons of “Teen Titans Go!” and its theatrical film combined for 80 million views on Netflix.
“Michael Jelenic and Aaron Horvath are visionary creators who remind us why we fell in love with animation. After the massive success of ‘The Super Mario Bros.’ movies and ‘Teen Titans Go!’ on our service, it’s clear our global audience craves their unique brand of storytelling. We are thrilled to embark on this partnership and can’t wait to see what they dream up next for Netflix members,” said John Derderian, Netflix’s Vice President of Animation Series and Kids & Family TV.
“We are thrilled to partner with Netflix to create captivating and immersive series and films over the coming years. We are grateful for the opportunity and look forward to entertaining the world’s largest audience!” said Jelenic and Horvath.
Jelenic and Horvath are repped by CAA, Allison Binder at Goodman Genow and Angela Cheng Caplan at Cheng Caplan Company. The deal was first reported by THR.
