Netflix wants to play Hollywood at its own game by crafting as many sustainable in-house franchises as possible, but one of the dangers that comes along with that approach is that the streaming service may well fall into the exact same traps as a result, with the ongoing expansion of the Money Heist universe prime among them.
Yesterday saw TUDUM unveil the first teaser trailer for Berlin, which finds Pedro Alonso’s title character – or Andrés de Fonollosa as he’s known on a Sunday – taking center stage for a heist thriller of his own. In isolation, it makes sense to continue telling stories in what’s proven to be one of the platform’s most consistently successful arenas, but it becomes a touch more cynical when you break it down.
Given his fate in the final minutes of Money Heist‘s second part, what we have here is the prequel spin-off to a show that didn’t even originate as a Netflix exclusive, with the company stepping in to acquire the production and distribution rights from Antena 3 following the first 15 episodes.
Not only that, but it was already given a fresh coat of paint through remake Money Heist: Korea – Joint Economic Area, without even mentioning documentary Money Heist: The Phenomenon, which reflected on how an unsung Spanish-language offering ended up as one of the biggest episodic sensations on the planet.
Of course, the fact Money Heist has cracked Netflix’s all-time Top 10 for non-English shows three times over explains the reasons why, but there always comes a point where audiences have had too much. Is that going to happen with Berlin? Maybe, maybe not, but you get the suspicion it’s going to be far from the last offshoot coming down the pipeline.