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Wachowskis of 'Matrix' fame bring sci-fi series to Netflix

"Sense8," which Netflix calls a "global tale of minds linked and souls hunted," will be available exclusively to members late next year, the company says.

Edward Moyer Senior Editor
Edward Moyer is a senior editor at CNET and a many-year veteran of the writing and editing world. He enjoys taking sentences apart and putting them back together. He also likes making them from scratch. ¶ For nearly a quarter of a century, he's edited and written stories about various aspects of the technology world, from the US National Security Agency's controversial spying techniques to historic NASA space missions to 3D-printed works of fine art. Before that, he wrote about movies, musicians, artists and subcultures.
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  • Ed was a member of the CNET crew that won a National Magazine Award from the American Society of Magazine Editors for general excellence online. He's also edited pieces that've nabbed prizes from the Society of Professional Journalists and others.
Edward Moyer
2 min read
Directors Lana Wachowski and Andy Wachowski at the "Cloud Atlas" premiere in Hollywood last year. Getty Images

Late next year, as we're glued to our screens watching Netflix's newest original TV series, will the online-movie powerhouse somehow be tapping our bodies' electrical energy and selling it to evil machines?

If the credentials of the show's creators are any indication, that's a distinct possibility.

"Sense8," a sci-fi show Netflix describes as a "global tale of minds linked and souls hunted," is the brainchild of the Wachowskis -- aka sibling duo Andy and Lana Wachowski, the masterminds behind "The Matrix" movies. The 10-episode first season of "Sense8" will be available for streaming in late 2014, Netflix announced today.

The show marks the first TV project for the Wachowskis -- also known for their films "Speed Racer," "Cloud Atlas," and the presumed Anonymous fave "V for Vendetta" -- and brings them together with writer-producer J. Michael Straczynski, creator of '90s sci-fi series "Babylon 5."

"Several years ago, we had a late night conversation about the ways technology simultaneously unites and divides us, and out of that paradox 'Sense8' was born," the Wachowskis were quoted as saying in a Netflix press release.

It's the third original series for Netflix, which says it has enjoyed the online-streaming equivalent of boffo box office with "House of Cards," its second series, starring Kevin Spacey and executive produced by "Social Network" director David Fincher.

Last month, Netflix announced a partnership with DreamWorks Animation to launch its second original series, "Turbo: F.A.S.T." That show will debut in December and is a spin-off of "Turbo," the DreamWorks Animation film premiering in theaters July 19.

It's all part of Netflix's effort to compete with traditional pay-TV services and online rivals such as Amazon Prime Instant Video and to decrease its reliance on Hollywood studios and others for content. Amazon this week announced the 13th original series it will present: "Zombieland."