Off the top of your head, name 10 Netflix movies that have come out this year. There’s Set It Up, To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before, and The Package, which are good, and The Cloverfield Paradox, Mute, and Game Over, Man!, which are not good, and… um, did Bright come out in 2018? (It did not.) The 10-movie challenge is harder than it sounds, although it shouldn’t be: Netflix has already released over 40 films this year, but only a few — mostly the romantic-comedies — have broken through to the mainstream. (Josh Brolin has starred in two of the year’s biggest titles, in Avengers: Infinity War and Deadpool 2, and also the little-discussed The Legacy of a Whitetail Deer Hunter with Danny McBride.)
The streaming service is aware of the problem, and they have two solutions:
1. Snap up potentially Academy Award-worthy films, including the Coen Brothers’ The Ballad of Buster Scruggs, Orson Welles’ The Other Side of the Wind, Paul Greengrass’ 22 July, and Alfonso Cuaron’s Roma (an insider told The Hollywood Reporter that if Netflix can’t get Roma a foreign-language nomination at the Oscars, “something is wrong, and filmmakers will stay away”).
2. Become the next Marvel Cinematic Universe.
[Netflix executive] Scott Stuber is looking to steer his film unit to be more selective and to avoid the volume business that has defined Netflix’s TV push. He’s aware his division has a reputation of taking projects other studios were discarding… His team now is telling agents and producers they want movies as big as Marvel superhero pics and Lord of the Rings-style fantasy fare or prestige projects they can campaign for awards. Netflix is also planning more rom-coms (like the buzzy Set It Up and The Kissing Booth), a genre that internal metrics show is massively watched and has been largely abandoned by major studios. (Via)
Here’s an idea: become the Marvel Cinematic Universe, but for romantic comedies. Katherine Heigl can be the Nick Fury, with Zoey Deutch, Glen Powell, and Love, Simon‘s Nick Robinson as the Avengers (Lovengers? Look, we’re still working out the kinks.) It’s a win-win for everyone, except Judy Greer, who will still only be offered kooky best friend and/or mom roles.
(Via The Hollywood Reporter)
