With nearly 150 million subscribers around the world, Netflix has a commanding lead in the streaming wars. But it’s also facing heavy competition from deep-pocketed conglomerates like Disney, Apple, and AT&T, and an ongoing wave of narrow, targeted streaming sites like CBS All Access and DC Universe, which can draw on popular existing franchises for original content. As fewer companies are willing to license out their films and shows to other streaming sites, Netflix is pouring billions of dollars annually into its own original content. Follow along with The Verge as we look at Netflix’s new films and shows, its evolving strategies against new entrants in the market, and how it’s leveraging its technological and marketing lead.
Stranger Things is back for (the first part of) its final season, but given the lengthy period between episodes, there’s a good chance you have some catching up to do. To that end, Netflix released this very handy recap covering season 4, which wrapped up way back in 2022.
The first chunk of the show’s fifth and final season moves a little too fast for its own good.
This trailer for Netflix’s upcoming Star Search revival is really just a list all the celebrities like Beyoncé, Usher, and Britney Spears who were discovered on the original series. But it’s also the streamer’s way of announcing that Anthony Anderson will host the new live show when it premieres on January 13th.
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The director of Wake Up Dead Man talks about the direction of the series, and why each one is ‘a reaction to the present moment.’
A source tells TheWrap that Netflix is betting on video podcasts to capture your attention while outside the platform:
When people aren’t spending time on Netflix, we want to win as much of that as possible.
In addition to a podcasting deal with Spotify, rumors suggest that Netflix is considering licensing shows from iHeartMedia and SiriusXM — and maybe even launching its own podcasts, too.
What was once a department store inside of the King of Prussia Mall has become a new (and now open) Netflix House entertainment venue where you can “explore more than 100,000 square feet of immersive experiences” inspired by some of the streamer’s shows like Wednesday, One Piece, and Squid Game.
It’s a good day to stay home: the first two episodes of Vince Gilligan’s Pluribus are now on Apple TV, while Guillermo del Toro’s Frankenstein is on Netflix after a brief theatrical run. And if you’re looking for more after you watch, here are my interviews with Gilligan and Frankenstein creature designer Mike Hill.
If you can’t wait until November 26th to experience the final season of Stranger Things (which has taken more than three years to release), you can now watch the first five minutes of its first episode, “The Crawl.” It’s been an age since we’ve seen Will Byers (Noah Schnapp) looking so baby-faced.
Netflix is working with A24 to develop a reality TV series based on the chaotic collaborative cooking game, according to a report from Deadline. The production is still in “early stages of development,” but I can already imagine the secondhand stress from watching contestants rush around a kitchen.
Netflix and Sony haven’t locked in on a concrete premiere date for the KPop Demon Hunters sequel just yet, but the studios are reportedly thinking about releasing the movie some time in 2029.
[Deadline]
The latest season of Sesame Street debuts on Netflix on November 10th, and the streamer has just dropped a new trailer teasing what’s in store for the fuzzy monsters and their human friends.
Mike Hill talks about working with Guillermo del Toro, and why Jacob Elordi was the right actor for the role.
If you weren’t able to see Guillermo del Toro’s Frankenstein in theaters during its all-too-brief theatrical run, it’ll be on Netflix next week. The latest trailer, meanwhile, provides the best look yet at Jacob Elordi’s take on the creature.
The Netflix fantasy epic continues its downward spiral with a bloated and mostly boring new chapter.
The fifth and final season of Stranger Things kicks off next month, and in the meantime Netflix has a very dramatic new trailer to get you in an Upside Down mood.
History tells us that Warner Bros. Discovery’s plan to sell itself is probably going to end in disaster.
Said no-one, I suspect. As Netflix shuts down another game studio, we’re not the only people questioning the streamer’s efforts to become a gaming giant.
eldinar:
It’s almost like people don’t subscribe to Netflix for games.
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Deadline reports that Netflix has tapped I Saw the TV Glow director Jane Schoenbrun to write and direct an adaptation of Charles Burns’ comic, Black Hole. Like the comic, the new series will tell the story of a town where a virus turns sexually active teens into strange monsters.
In an interview with NPR about his Frankenstein film arriving on Netflix next month, del Toro drew a hard line, saying he’d “rather die” than use AI, and compared today’s “tech bros” to Victor Frankenstein (the inventor, not the monster):
“I did want it to have the arrogance of Victor [Frankenstein] be similar in some ways to the tech bros. He’s kind of blind, creating something without considering the consequences and I think we have to take a pause and consider where we’re going.”
It has already gotten more than 325 million views, the company says. And get ready for more from the franchise: Netflix is partnering with Mattel and Hasbro on toys and products, and the company is looking at “opportunities” in “live experiences, publishing, beauty, lifestyle, and food and beverage.”
[Netflix]
The latest iteration of Frankenstein is excellent, but due to Netflix’s complex relationship with theaters, it’s also difficult to watch at the moment for many. But if you want to squeeze in a viewing ahead of its November 7th streaming date, the director posted this handy site for finding local screenings.
The director builds on a familiar story with a new level of detail and heart.
California is banning streaming ads that are louder than the content around them, bringing streamers in line with broadcast TV. But as some ask whether Big Government has gone too far this time, we say: No, obviously not!
Hoto:
You can just do that? You can just ban things because they’re loud, purposeless and annoying??
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Ahead of the premiere of season 4 on October 30th — which, of course, introduces Liam Hemsworth as Geralt of Rivia — Netflix has released a new Witcher trailer. The new season has more of an ensemble vibe, with Geralt, Yennefer, and Ciri all doing their own thing across the Continent.
