Dolly Parton Partners with Netflix to Bring More Songs to Movie Form
More movies based off the iconic songs of Dolly Parton are on the way, and this time they will be distributed through the streaming giant Netflix. Announced this week, Dolly Parton has signed with the subscription service to debut eight new movies based off of her legendary songs in the coming months and years.
Parton first ventured to put one of her songs into movie form with Coat Of Many Colors on NBC. Based off of her landmark song from 1971, the movie was a ratings smash, attracting over 13 million total viewers, which made it the most-watched made-for-TV movie since 2012. A sequel the next year raked in 11.5 million viewers, and kept the franchise on pace as a successful TV series. However the 3rd installment based off of Parton’s song “Jolene” never moved forward via NBC. Now Netflix will make sure Parton’s original idea for making many of her signature songs into movies continues.
Once again Dolly Parton will act as executive producer and appear in the movies, with Warner Bros. Television underwriting the effort. Sam Haskell, who also worked with Dolly on the first two movies, will also make the move over to the Netflix production. So far nobody is saying whether NBC just didn’t want to continue the series despite the very strong ratings, or if Netflix outbid NBC for the franchise. Either way, it’s alive and kicking, and headed to a Netflix-enabled device near you.
“As a songwriter, I have always enjoyed telling stories through my music,” Parton said in a statement. “I am thrilled to be bringing some of my favorite songs to life with Netflix. We hope our show will inspire and entertain families and folks of all generations, and I want to thank the good folks at Netflix and Warner Bros. TV for their incredible support.”
No word on when the next installment may see the light of day, or if it will be the previously-promised “Jolene” episode, or some other subject.
June 9, 2018 @ 9:18 am
the population of the U.S. is about 27 million.
if 13 million people watched the first one, that’s almost half the u.s. population.
Just goes to show how beloved Dolly Parton is and how valued her stories are across generations. I highly doubt that many entertainers of today could draw views to an awards show or festival.
June 9, 2018 @ 9:22 am
U.S. population is quite a bit bigger than that, but still 13 million is a beefy number in this age of television.
June 9, 2018 @ 9:59 am
It’s actually more than 300 million, based on the latest statistics. But yeah, I still agree with your point that Dolly Parton is well-loved by many people from all walks of life and generations
June 9, 2018 @ 9:59 am
The current US population is approximately 325 million.
But yes the audience for those movies were impressive in this fragmented viewing environment.
June 9, 2018 @ 10:05 am
Were you in charge of the head count at the inauguration?
June 9, 2018 @ 10:27 am
To be fair to Fuzzy the population of the US was in fact 27 million once.
In 1855.
June 9, 2018 @ 11:34 am
Pass the joint, brah.
June 9, 2018 @ 1:37 pm
39 mil in California alone…but close… 😀
June 9, 2018 @ 2:34 pm
Fuzzy Math!
June 10, 2018 @ 6:38 pm
Gypsy, Joe and Me could work as a movie.
June 11, 2018 @ 11:46 am
Aww Geez, now I’ll have to resubscribe to Net Flix just for this!
June 11, 2018 @ 2:28 pm
What a remarkable, outstanding, talented woman Dolly Parton is.
June 12, 2018 @ 8:31 pm
Dolly is a legend. With women being short shifted in modern country it is nice to see her out there doing her thing her way. She is a trailblazer in so many ways.