Netflix bags Jason Bateman drama

Streaming service Netflix has landed a Jason Bateman-created drama that comes from the production company behind House of Cards.

Various US outlets are reporting that the SVOD platform has greenlit Ozark, which comes from HOC firm Media Rights Capital and Aggregate following a few months of negotiations.

Ozark comes from feature films writer Bill Dubuque (The Judge) and is set in the dangerous world of drug-money laundering. The show takes its name from its setting, the Lake of the Ozarks in the US state of Missouri.

Actor-producer Bateman will direct the project, working with Dubuque to create the tone. Mark Williams executive produces with the pair, with Chris Mundy signed on a showrunner.

Bateman previously worked with Netflix on the Arrested Development reprisal, in which he appeared as a star.

Ozark is projected to go into production this spring, though the company had not confirmed the US stories at press time.

The news comes as Netflix plans to double the amount of original programming it offers by 2017.