Watching Terrible Netflix Originals

I've been following Netflix's forays into moviemaking and movie distribution with considerable interest over the past few years (disclaimer - I'm still technically one of their shareholders).  I've happily charted their growing success with prestige fare, notably their fantastic documentary selections and their support of smaller indie productions like "Mudbound" and "The Meyerowitz Stories."  However, all the attention lately has been on their bigger budget genre fare, the titles aimed at more mainstream tastes. Namely, how they've been absolutely terrible.

Over the past few months, Netflix has premiered the fantastical Will Smith cop procedural "Bright," the space thriller "The Cloverfield Paradox," and the futuristic noir, "Mute."  I've watched them all and been sorely disappointed each time, despite doing my best to ignore the lousy reviews. "Mute" was high on my list of anticipated films for the past two years.  The best thing I can say about these movies is that they're all bad in different ways. "Bright" is a half-baked premise, badly executed by a director with the totally wrong sensibilities for it.  "Paradox" is a subpar take on a typical horror scenario, made worse by being retrofitted as part of the "Cloverfield" franchise. Then there's "Mute," a high concept passion project gone very, very wrong.  

The last time I wrote about Netflix originals, I claimed that the platform felt like it had become a distributor of last resort.  This latest batch of films doesn't do much to dispel that notion. An interesting wrinkle is that "The Cloverfield Paradox" was initially a Paramount film in line for a traditional theatrical release like the previous two "Cloverfield" films, originally with a release date of February, 2017.  However, after several significant delays and the growing likelihood that Paramount was going to lose money on the film, it was acquired by Netflix in a surprise deal. They announced it with a Superbowl ad that also announced the film's immediate release online, a marketing gimmick that made headlines.  

In fact, there's every indication that these films are doing quite well for Netflix.  "Bright" has been hailed as a success, with plenty of viewers who enjoyed it, and sequels reportedly in the pipeline.  Initial Nielsen numbers for "The Cloverfield Paradox" indicate that it didn't do nearly as well, but it was definitely a huge topic of conversation due to the marketing stunt.  Also, consider the advantage that the Netflix releases have - limited marketing costs, few early reviews, none of the expenditures required for theatrical exhibition, and no access issues.  Everyone with a Netflix account could watch "Paradox" instantaneously after the Superbowl.

The "Paradox" deal, along with one that gives Netflix the distribution rights to "Annihilation" in foreign markets, has suddenly created a potential new escape hatch for the studios looking to offload projects that are expected to underperform in theaters.  Paramount recouped the cost of "Paradox" instead of losing money. Netflix got a flashy new piece of content. It's a win-win for both sides, right? Well, I worry that if these higher profile Netflix films keep getting such terrible reviews, eventually the viewers are going to cry wolf and start avoiding them.  And a stunt like the Superbowl Netflix ad is going to have diminishing returns quickly. Netflix may not be able to repeat it at all.

And yet, this string of films being so awful may have just been bad luck.  "Bright" might have worked better in other hands. "Mute" came from a usually dependable director, Duncan Jones, who previously made "Moon" and "Source Code."  "Paradox" came to Netflix because it was projected to be a flop, not because it was a bad film. "Annihilation" was also a domestic bust at the box office, but has seen heaps of critical praise.  And considering all the development deals Netflix has been making lately with top tier talent, and several extremely promising projects in the works, including Martin Scorsese's "The Irishman," eventually one of these films is going to be a winner.

I'm glad that Netflix has strengthened its position as a major player in the media world, and the rest of Hollywood is starting to treat it like one.  However, one bothersome detail that worries me about their distribution practices is that "Bright," "Cloverfield Paradox," and "Mute" have had no theatrical releases to date.  It seems that their past fights with exhibitors has resulted in them skipping the theaters entirely when it comes to films that aren't up for awards contention. Another worry is, then, that if deals like the ones with Paramount  become more common, films like "Annihilation" that should be seen on a big screen might miss out.

To be continued...

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