Another day, another Netflix roundup! For those of you just joining us, we’ve got all the latest news compiled right here for your convenience and easy reading. Ryan Murphy’s struggling, Netflix is making major moves while continuing to cancel shows with abandon, and Adam Sandler’s made a new, critically-panned hit — let’s get into it!
Ryan Murphy threatens to sue a Writers Strike captain
Ryan Murphy is probably one of the highest-profile producers, writers, and showrunners in Hollywood — in fact, the man has a $500 million deal with Netflix — but some of his recent actions haven’t gone down so well on social media. In the midst of the Writers Strike, Murphy has threatened litigation against East Coast strike captain and Strike Rules Compliance Committee member Warren Leight over a tweet in which Leight claimed that American Horror Story crew members would be “blackballed” if they didn’t cross the picket lines.
Murphy took offense to this claim, and his lawyers contacted Leight, who deleted the post before issuing an apology and a retraction. But not everyone’s pleased with Murphy — many other users have come out and accused the showrunner of allegedly running numerous toxic sets. Needless to say, Murphy has had a rough day on social media.
Netflix expands its deal with Constantin Film
You may or may not be familiar with Constantin Film, but the production company has something of a reputation for producing lower-quality blockbuster films, such as the Resident Evil series, Monster Hunter, and more. Well, the company has recently closed on a deal with Netflix — the streamer will now be the home of the studio’s back catalog, and will retain exclusive streaming rights to Constantin Film’s future releases for one year after their theatrical debut, and will make a “significant” contribution to the company’s German-language productions.
It’s unknown how this will impact the studio’s Hollywood releases, but the deal does expand Netflix’s content library. As more and more competitors pop up, Netflix has attempted to retain its title as king by curating a vast collection of films — even if they aren’t necessarily well-received.
Netflix cancels yet another fantasy series
Netflix has gained a reputation for cancelling any genre work that’s not named Stranger Things, and one of its most recent cancellations lives right up to that reputation. That’s right, it’s time for fans to say goodbye to Welcome to Eden, a Spanish thriller/fantasy series.
Despite cracking the top 10 in 51 countries worldwide, Netflix opted not to renew the series. Perhaps it’s unsurprising — many have called out the streamer for the way it handles cancellations, and the company has been criticized for often cancelling a show in its first or second seasons.
Another one bites the dust
But Welcome to Eden isn’t the only series to receive the axe. Little-known series Snowflake Mountain has also been cancelled at the streamer, reportedly due to low viewership figures. The show received plenty of backlash when it was first announced — the “snowflake” in its name refers to its contestants, who were mostly millennials and younger. These generational groups are referred to, derogatorily, in some circles as “snowflakes.”
As most people are tired of these kind of dogwhistles and reactionary shows — seriously, anger and outrage can only get you so far — not many people tuned in. Call me a hypocrite, but I don’t think this one was a premature cancellation.
Netflix’s newest Adam Sandler release gets poor reviews
In recent years, Adam Sandler has teamed up with Netflix to bring audiences more of his signature comedy. The comedian has appeared in several vehicles for the company, while his production company, Happy Madison, has released a few films under its banner. The latest of these projects, The Out-Laws, has been deemed to be a classic Happy Madison production by critics, for better or worse.
Well, mostly for the worst in critics’ eyes. Though Sandler is only a producer for the film, his fingerprints are evidently all over it. The jury’s up in the air as to whether or not that’s a good thing — audiences tend to have a more forgiving attitude than critics do, and Sandler’s films are usually pretty big hits. Guess we’ll have to see how it plays out, eh?