Hulu’s ‘The Handmaid’s Tale’ Profits Went Mostly To MGM Says Margaret Atwood

By Michael Haskoor @Tweetskoor
Published Feb. 3, 2018, 2:50 p.m. ET

Where to Stream:

The Handmaid's Tale

Powered by Reelgood

More On:

The Handmaid's Tale

While Hulu’s Emmy-winning original series The Handmaid’s Tale has certainly become a major hit, ushering in a magnitude of profits, most people don’t know that the author of the best-selling novel (from which it was based on) has not been reaping the benefits. Margaret Atwood penned a brand new personal essay, which was posted on Wealthsimple, that touches on pay inequity for women and her own experiences with wealth and finance.

According to Atwood, “I sold the rights to MGM in 1990 to make a movie — so when the TV rights were sold to Hulu, the money went to MGM,” stated the author in a new personal essay she penned touching on pay inequity for women in the entertainment industry.

“We did not have a negotiating position,” Atwood continued, regarding the MGM Television-produced series. “I did get brought on as an executive consultant, but that wasn’t a lot of money. People think it’s been all Hollywood glamour since the TV show happened, but that’s not happening to me.”

According to The Hollywood Reporter, MGM’s original 1990 film adaptation of the book, which starred Natasha Richardson, Faye Dunaway and Robert Duvall, scored less than $5 million at the box office. The Hulu series has done much better, helping to increase the platform’s total number of subscribers by a whopping 98 percent last year.

While Atwood didn’t see much of the profits from the platform’s apparent success, “book sales have been brisk” says the author. Her novel of the same name, which was originally published in 1985, sold 60 percent more copies in 2017 compared with the year prior and was Kindle’s most-read book of the year (according to Amazon).

Atwood’s essay also focused on a number of other topics, from the #MeToo movement to eating on a budget and societal pressures to get married that she experienced as a young collegiate. She didn’t, however, address her role in Alias Grace, Netflix‘s 2017 adaptation of her 1996 novel of the same name.

Hulu’s The Handmaid’s Tale will return for a second season in April.

Michael is a music and television junkie keen on most things that are not a complete and total bore. You can follow him on Twitter — @Tweetskoor

STREAM THE HANDMAID'S TALE ON HULU