It’s been eight years since Chris Rock released a stand-up special, but he’s coming back with a bang.
Rock will return to the stage in a pair of comedy specials airing on Netflix, a deal that will reportedly earn him up to $40 million. If that’s true, he will set the record for comedy special deals. The $20 million per special is definitely much more than comedians like Louis C.K. and Jerry Seinfeld make.
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“I’m very excited to be working with […] all the good people at Netflix,” said Rock. “I can’t wait to get back on stage.”
He is expected to shoot two specials, the first of which will take place in 2017, after a world tour. Both specials will debut on Netflix’s worldwide platform.
This will be Rock’s first deal with Netflix after spending 20 years at HBO, which produced five of his specials. HBO made a bid to host, but lost out to Netflix, Deadline reports:
“…HBO made a substantial play for Rock’s new specials, bidding along all major streaming platforms, Netflix, Amazon and Hulu. Standup comedy has become a big draw on SVOD platforms over the last few years, explaining the big appetite, aggressive bidding and huge price tag for new material from one of the superstars in the genre.”
Will you be watching?