Award-Winning Netflix Series Could Be Getting a Prequel

The reign of one hit Netflix series won’t be coming to an end anytime soon. The streaming giant is reportedly eyeing a prequel series to The Crown. The news comes ahead of The Crown‘s November 2022 Season 5 premiere date, with the critically acclaimed series — which documents Queen Elizabeth II’s reign — set to end after Season 6.

Deadline reported Friday morning that Netflix “is in early-stage conversations” with The Crown producer Left Bank regarding a possible prequel. While the flagship series began with the first decade of Her Majesty’s reign, spanning 1947 to 1956, the proposed prequel would jump even further back into royal history and likely cover the pre-World War II era or late Victorian era when Queen Victoria, the UK’s longest-serving monarch before the current reigning monarch eclipsed her, reigned.

According to a report from the Daily Mail, the prequel series will run approximately five seasons. Sources told the outlet that “this is a bit like Star Wars where the opportunity is to extend the franchise by dipping into history.” The prequel series will start with the death of Queen Victoria and will run up to around about where The Crown began, which was with the wedding of the Queen in 1947.”

“Netflix are really keen to make more of The Crown and Peter Morgan is excited by the possibilities of the era. At the moment Peter covers about ten years per series, so on that basis there will be five new series of The Crown,” the source continued. “Peter has started writing outlines and plans are being made for filming.” Conversations over the series are said to be “in their early stages,” and the prequel is not yet in development. Netflix also hasn’t yet given the proposed series the greenlight. 

The Crown has been a massive success for Netflix. Although the series costs around £100 million per six-part run, the series has racked up numerous awards, taking home 21 Emmy awards so far. The series initially premiered on Netflix in November of 2016 and documents a decade of the queen’s reign per season. The upcoming fifth season is set to cover the ’90s, a decade that proved difficult for the British royals and not only included the Queen’s self-proclaimed “annus horribilis” in 1992, but also the tragic death of Princess Diana in 1997. The Season 5 cast includes Imelda Staunton as Queen Elizabeth, Dominic West as Prince Charles, and Elizabeth Debicki as Princess Diana. Season 5 premieres sometime in November 2022. Season 6, the final season, does not yet have a premiere date.