Netflix lands the Coen Brothers’ Western TV series

Netflix is going to be home to the first television show created by the Coen Brothers, the directing duo that’s behind The Big Lebowski, Fargo, True Grit and many more films. The show is called The Ballad of Buster Scruggs, and is described as a “Western anthology” that will follow six stories about America’s Wild West. Joel and Ethan Coen will produce, write and direct, and the anthology should premiere sometime next year.

The show has been characterized as more of a “mini-series” in previous descriptions of the project, which was considered for a feature-length film but instead will be a multi-part show because of the scope. Each chapter will be its own unique story; the cast includes Tim Blake Nelson as the titular character, Ryne Daley, James Franco, Zoe Kazan and others.

This should be a very interesting project for Netflix, and also something the company is probably happy to be able to announce now that news is out that Disney is removing its movie catalog from its U.S. service in 2019 to create its own dedicated streaming service. Marquee content from other big-name sources that Netflix owns exclusive distribution rights to will be especially important in helping reassure investors and analysts that the streaming giant won’t suffer much from loss of the Disney deal.

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