Netflix Will Spend Less on Big-Budget Projects in the Future: Report
Netflix's days of throwing cash around at every conceivable TV and movie project are coming to an end.
A report by The Information reveals that Netflix boss Ted Sarandos met company executives in June and told them, "Be more careful with money."
Sarandos reportedly decreed that spending on TV and film projects, particularly big-budget movies, be more cost-effective. It's a change from the ethos that buzz and critical acclaim could justify spending a ton of money.
One negative example given in the meeting was "Triple Frontier," the action movie starring Ben Affleck, Charlie Hunnam, and Oscar Isaac that cost $115 million and flopped.
Netflix is denying any change in its spending practices. “There’s been no change to our content budgets, nor any big shifts in the sorts of projects we’re investing in, or the way we greenlight them,” a spokesperson told The Information.
Netflix is still spending about $15 billion on original content in 2019, so the company isn't strapped. It's still making huge deals — making a "Sandman" series, buying the rights to "Chronicles of Narnia," and signing up A-list creators like Shonda Rhimes and Ryan Murphy. And the streamer still spends a lot on series like "The Crown" and "Orange Is the New Black" and the forthcoming Oscar contender "The Irishman" from Martin Scorsese.
But gone are the days when Netflix threw everything and the kitchen sink on its platform to see what resonated with viewers.