Netflix Renews ‘Narcos’ for 2 More Seasons (Video)

Just days after the release of Season 2, streaming service confirms Season 3 and Season 4 are on the way

Pablo Escobar is dead, but “Narcos” will live on for at least two more seasons, as the streaming service announced Tuesday it has ordered Season 3 and Season 4 of the crime drama.

Season 3 will debut in 2017. José Padilha (“RoboCop”) and Eric Newman (“Children of Men”) continue to serve as executive producers of the series.

The focus of “Narcos” had previously been on notorious drug lord Escobar (Wagner Moura), but with the fall of Escobar, the rise of the Cali cartel will take center stage, with Helmer “Pacho” Herrera and Escobar’s former partner, Gilberto Rodriguez Orejuela, running the cocaine business in Colombia.

Netflix has made it a habit of late to offer multiple-season renewals to its original series. In June, it picked up “Orange Is the New Black” for an additional three seasons, a nearly unheard-of order.

Untethered from the traditional TV ratings universe, Netflix is better able to offer these big renewals than regular networks. Since Netflix is a subscription service, how many people watch an individual show like “Narcos” isn’t nearly as important as how many people are forking over $10 a month, though great original series are considered subscriber glue. Some traditional networks are also hopping aboard that bandwagon, á la FX’s final two-season renewal of Cold War spy thriller “The Americans.”

“Narcos” is even more of a no-brainer big renewal. The series gets big play overseas, especially in big emerging markets like Brazil that are crucial to help Netflix grow its international subscription base.

Netflix has struggled in the past couple quarters to attract these international subscribers, falling short of analyst estimates, and so the streaming service is pouring money into original series that have international appeal, in the hopes that these shows will provide a reason to subscribe and stay.

Watch the teaser trailer for “Narcos” Season 3 above.

Comments