Netflix would love nothing more than to continue expanding as many of its own franchises as possible, ignoring the fact the majority of its most successful blockbusters more often than not tend to take a critical pasting. The Fear Street trilogy did not, however, and yet there’s growing frustration that the streaming service is taking its sweet time to capitalize.
An ambitious experiment in more ways than one, the trio of R.L. Stine adaptations all hailing from director and co-writer Leigh Janiak that featured an ensemble cast criss-crossing between different time periods in different roles to tell one overarching story opted for a unique release method of dropping a new installment each week in July of 2021.
Part One: 1994, Part Two: 1978, and Part Three: 1666 fared equally well with critics as they did audiences, giving Fear Street the distinction of being Netflix’s most consistently acclaimed multi-film saga hailing from Hollywood that’s spanned at least three features. Individually, the trio netted 83, 87, and 89 percent approval ratings on Rotten Tomatoes, resulting in a median average of just over 86 percent.
Understandably, there was a clamor for more as soon as possible, but since a report that didn’t come directly from Netflix itself claimed that additional Fear Street flicks were in the works in July of last year, the trail as remained ice cold.
Not exactly striking when the iron is at its hottest, and as a Reddit thread has made clear, frustrations are beginning to set in that the platform has a property with limitless potential at its disposal but hasn’t pulled the trigger quick enough. Then again, the impending end of the strikes may just accelerate development.