Blockbuster is coming to Netflix. The streaming giant has announced it’s given a series order to a new comedy set in the last remaining Blockbuster video store in America.
The single-camera comedy will be led by Randall Park, serving as the Marvel Cinematic Universe vet’s return to comedy after six seasons on ABC’s Fresh Off the Boat and a stint stepping back into Agent Jimmy Woo’s shoes for Disney+’s WandaVision.
Call it the ultimate twist of fate, but producers for the 10-episode Netflix series have even bought the rights to use the one-time video franchise’s logo and uniforms in the show — a far cry from the days when Blockbuster dismissed the offer from Netflix creators Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph to sell the then-fledgling DVD-focused startup to the video rental behemoth for $50 million back in 2000. As legend has it, Hastings and Randolph vowed to overtake Blockbuster after the deal was rejected and, well, look where we are today.
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At the moment, the very last Blockbuster store in the country is located in Bend, Oregon, and has managed to soldier on despite even the impact of the coronavirus pandemic. In August 2020, part of the store was converted into an Airbnb where fans could lean into their ’90s nostalgia for just $4 a night, and last December the store was the subject of a video-on-demand documentary appropriately titled The Last Blockbuster.
Blockbuster is the brainchild of Vanessa Ramos, who will bring her experience from other workplace comedies like Superstore and Brooklyn Nine-Nine to the table, while Happy Endings creator David Caspe and Jackie Clarke are also on board to write and executive produce.
The forthcoming series isn’t Park’s only gig with Netflix, either. Next, he’ll also be lending his voice to Big Mouth spinoff Human Resources alongside Nick Kroll, Maya Rudolph, Aidy Bryant, and Keke Palmer.
