Can you believe it’s already been one year since The School for Good and Evil premiered on Netflix? You know, the big budget fantasy with an all-star cast that was being set up as the start of a blockbuster multi-film franchise. Anyone?
Come on, it was directed by Bridesmaids, The Heat, and the divisive Ghostbuters reboot’s Paul Feig. Ring a bell? Based on the bestselling literary series created by Soman Chainani? Starred Academy Award winners Michelle Yeoh, Cate Blanchett, and Charlize Theron alongside the likes of Kerry Washington, Laurence Fishburne, Patti LuPone, and Rob Delaney? Still nothing?
Sarcasm aside, you understand the point being made. Despite a strong debut that saw it top the charts worldwide when it premiered in October of last year, The School for Good and Evil was quickly forgotten, and a meager 37 percent Rotten Tomatoes score didn’t help matters, either. Unless something drastic changes, then any plans for sequels have been quietly swept under the rug and been abandoned.
Feig has a habit of defending his films to the hilt when they take what he deems to be an unfair thrashing, and he’s been back at it again after calling out the detractors who blasted his work as being derivative of Harry Potter.
Like far too many expensive Netflix exclusives before it, The School for Good and Evil arrived hot out of the gate before almost instantly fading from memory, so you’d be entirely forgiven for forgetting that it was even positioned as a prospective marquee IP little more than 12 months ago.