Things have gotten so bad that Netflix subscribers are now fully expecting fantasy shows to be canceled on the very same day they premiere, a damning indicator of the goodwill the streaming service has built up with its customer base.
Of course, boss Ted Sarandos remains adamant that he’s never canceled anything popular, but the fact Warrior Nun has been trending constantly since being axed after two seasons would potentially say otherwise, especially when the decidedly less buzzy The Recruit fanned the flames of rebellion by landing a renewal.
Things may have just taken a turn for the worse to spread even more panic among viewers, though, after Netflix went ahead and binned two movies that had already been completed. Alejandro Brugués’ The Inheritance and Danis Goulet’s House/Wife are the unfortunate titles, and in an even more worrying development – they’re both genre films.
The Inheritance finds a billionaire inviting his four children to celebrate his 75th birthday, with the caveat they’ll all get an equal share of his fortune if he makes it through the night alive. Meanwhile, House/Wife follows an injured woman who moves into an AI-powered home with her family to recover from an accident, only for the smart house to reveal sinister intentions.
Both projects have intriguing concepts, but it’s yet another piece of evidence in the ever-growing belief that Netflix is beginning to lose interest in broad and fantastical fare that isn’t guaranteed success right out of the gate, regardless of whether it’s feature-length or episodic.