Shawn Levy Moves TV Deal From Netflix to Disney’s 20th Television

Shawn Levy and 21 Laps Entertainment are moving their overall television deal to Disney’s 20th Television, giving the filmmaker and producer a new home for developing series after a long run at Netflix. The Walt Disney Company officially announced the multiyear agreement on September 28, saying Levy will develop and produce television projects across Disney Entertainment’s portfolio of platforms and brands.

The Shawn Levy Disney 20th Television deal expands a relationship that already includes some of Disney’s largest film franchises. Levy directed and co-wrote Marvel Studios’ Deadpool & Wolverine, is directing Lucasfilm’s Star Wars: Starfighter and is also set to reunite with Ryan Gosling on Marvel Studios’ Ghost Rider. Disney’s announcement described the television pact as the next chapter in a creative relationship spanning roughly two decades.

Shawn Levy’s Disney deal brings 21 Laps to 20th Television

Under the agreement, Levy and 21 Laps will develop and produce television series for Disney Entertainment. Disney did not announce specific new shows as part of the deal, making the agreement a development pact rather than a slate announcement.

The move is significant because of 21 Laps’ lengthy association with Netflix. Levy has been an executive producer and director on Stranger Things, and the company has produced other Netflix projects including Shadow and Bone and The Perfect Couple.

Deadline reported that Levy is moving his overall television deal after more than a decade at Netflix, while the existing Stranger Things universe will remain at the streamer. The distinction means the new Disney agreement should not be interpreted as moving that franchise to Disney.

Variety independently confirmed the agreement and reported that Levy’s previous Netflix overall arrangement began in 2017.

The agreement extends Levy’s growing Disney footprint

Levy’s recent relationship with Disney reaches across several of the company’s most valuable entertainment brands.

He directed the 2024 Marvel Studios film Deadpool & Wolverine and is now directing Lucasfilm’s Star Wars: Starfighter, starring Ryan Gosling. TSJ has been following Disney’s broader efforts to build its next phase of Star Wars storytelling across film and other parts of the company.

Disney also says Levy will reunite with Gosling for Marvel Studios’ Ghost Rider. That project places him alongside an expanding Marvel slate that includes the studio’s newly assembled X-Men cast, unveiled at D23 in August.

The television agreement therefore does more than bring another production company into 20th Television. It gives Disney a continuing television relationship with a filmmaker already working across Marvel and Lucasfilm.

Levy’s Disney history began before his blockbuster films

The partnership also reconnects Levy with the company where he worked early in his television career.

Disney noted that he directed episodes of Disney Channel’s The Famous Jett Jackson. His later work for the company’s film studios included producing Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day, directing 20th Century Studios’ Free Guy and directing films in the Night at the Museum franchise.

In Disney’s announcement, Levy described the agreement as a return to a company whose storytelling culture he has known since the beginning of his career. Disney President and Chief Creative Officer Dana Walden, meanwhile, emphasized Levy’s ability to work across genres and franchises.

What the 21 Laps move does and does not mean

The clearest immediate consequence is that new television development from Levy’s overall deal will now run through 20th Television rather than Netflix.

It does not mean every existing 21 Laps project is changing platforms. Reporting on the agreement specifically distinguishes Levy’s future overall television development from the continuing Stranger Things universe at Netflix.

Disney has also not announced which of its platforms will receive the first project created under the pact, nor has it disclosed financial terms or a first series. Those details remain open.

What is already clear is the larger strategic picture. Levy’s relationship with Disney now stretches from Marvel and Lucasfilm feature films into television development, while 21 Laps begins a new chapter after one of the more consequential producer-streamer relationships of Netflix’s original-programming era.