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.
This morning Netflix revealed that Guillermo del Toro’s Frankenstein will start streaming in the fall. And while a new image came with the announcement, there still isn’t an official trailer — though a glance at YouTube might make you believe differently. The director is warning folks that there are a bunch of fake trailers floating about, and it’ll be some time before we see the real thing.
In what kinda feels like a play to the “TV and movies have gotten too sexy” crowd, Netflix is moving forward with a Little House on the Prairie reboot from executive producer / showrunner Rebecca Sonnenshine (The Boys) that the streamer describes as “a kaleidoscopic view of the struggles and triumphs of those who shaped the frontier.”
British households currently don’t need to pay the £169.50 (about $211) annual charge that funds the public-service broadcaster if they only use streaming apps like Netflix and Amazon Video, but that could soon change.
The UK government is now exploring options to help sustain the struggling BBC according to Bloomberg, including extending the fees to streaming service users and radio listeners, taxing streaming companies, and introducing ads to the public broadcaster.
With 13 nominations (some of which are confounding) Emilia Perez is looking looking like a strong contender at this year’s Academy Awards. But with The Brutalist and Wicked both snagging 10 nominations of their own, it’s going to be a tight race when when the Oscars airs on March 2nd.
The price of Netflix’s standard plan has more than doubled since 2011, with its new price hike bringing it to $17.99 / month.
Castlevania: Nocturne season 2 gets philosophical about what it means to be a monster who loves.
Though Greta Gerwig’s new Narnia feature will eventually make its way to Netflix, the movie will reportedly have a two-week theatrical run ahead of its streaming debut in 2026.
While Richter Belmont and his allies absolutely dogwalked Erzsebet Báthory last time they fought, the vampire messiah looks like she’s coming back with a vengeance in the latest trailer for Castlevania: Nocturne’s upcoming second season.
Though WWE Monday Night Raw’s premiere on Netflix was marked by a heartening round of boos when Hulk Hogan popped up, the show reportedly racked up 4.9 millions views between Monday and Tuesday.
That figure isn’t huge by Netflix’s standards, but according to The Hollywood Reporter, it’s more than twice the viewership that Raw drew in last year on USA Network.
[The Hollywood Reporter]
Rabbits My Melody and Kuromi have been fixtures in Hello Kitty’s life for a few decades now, and today Netflix and Sanrio announced that the pair are set to be the stars of their own stop-motion animated series due out some time this July.
Tonight’s a big occasion for WWE and Netflix. Monday Night Raw will make its premiere on the streaming service. The first episode has a stacked card, and many WWE legends will be making an appearance.
Ahead of the stream, WWE has posted the cold open that’ll air before everything kicks off from the Intuit Dome at 8PM ET.
While you’ll have to look to Disney Plus for the latest adaptation of R.L. Stine’s books, the horror author says that another new trilogy of films based on his Fear Street novels is in the works.
If you search for “Squid Game” on the web or mobile, an invitation card will appear at the bottom of the screen. Click on it, and you’ll see a group of characters you have to carefully guide toward Squid Game’s giant doll when it’s not looking.
The streamer says the new season broke all kinds of records, including garnering 68 million views in its first week, which made it the number-one show in 92 countries.
Here’s a nice, long read from n+1 on Netflix’s victims, from Blockbuster to residuals for TV and film creators (which it now must pay) to the Hollywood film, buried in what author Will Tavlin calls the Typical Netflix Movie:
From the outside, the TNM looks ... designed to cater to each of Netflix’s two thousand “taste clusters,” the genre-like groupings Netflix uses to ... recommend films and shows to subscribers. The TNM covers every niche interest and identity category in existence, such as a movie about a tall girl, Tall Girl, but also Horse Girl, Skater Girl, Sweet Girl, Lost Girls, and Nice Girls.
According to Netflix and Nielsen, peak viewers for the streamer’s Christmas Day NFL games reached over 27 million during Beyoncé’s halftime show. Now, it’s available to stream directly without the football game.
Here’s what to watch over the holidays in case all those live sports broadcasts don’t work out.
After years of brand tie-ins and ill-conceived spinoffs, the series is back — and it’s just as tense as ever.
The Chiefs just beat the Steelers, and we’re not hearing about any Paul vs Tyson-level issues other than scattered reports of weird buffering blips and TV going-to-sleep bugs.
But the real test for Netflix’s live broadcast ambitions will come when Beyoncé performs during halftime of the Ravens-Texans game (Update: if you missed it, the stream is staying up for three hours after the broadcast ends, and Netflix says it will be available as a standalone soon.)
One way or another, Netflix’s help page is setting expectations early with a warning message.
There will be a lot of eyes on Netflix today for the 1PM ET Chiefs/Steelers game, and the company is using that big holiday spotlight to remind viewers of some original content coming next year.
This first look at Happy Gilmore 2 includes familiar faces (like Shooter McGavin) and a very timely cameo. The movie’s release is expected later in 2025.
Netflix filed the lawsuit in Califonia federal court Monday, claiming Broadcom subsidiary VMware has cloud software that infringes on five Netflix patents. As reported by Reuters, Netflix says VMware’s vSphere platform for deploying and managing virtual machines infringes on Netflix patents related to virtual-machine communications.
De Niro plays a former President called in to investigate a cyberattack that resulted in plane crashes, train derailments, and thousands of deaths in the limited series, premiering February 20th on Netflix.
Zero Day was created by Eric Newman (Narcos) and Noah Oppenheim (The Maze Runner) and also stars Angela Bassett, Matthew Modine, Connie Britton, and Clark Gregg.
Netflix is good at streaming. It quickly learned that streaming live is a whole different ballgame.
That’s Squid Game creator Hwang Dong-hyuk talking to Variety in a story that explores how the show became a worldwide phenomenon and a massive business for Netflix. Most notable, though, is how much the creator seems done with it all:
I’m so sick of my life making something, promoting something. So I’m not thinking about my next project right now. I’m just thinking about going to some remote island and having my own free time without any phone calls from Netflix.
Netflix has released another trailer for The Electric State, a live-action film that looks like a slightly goofier take on artist Simon Stålenhag’s retrofuturistic book. This time the clip dives deep into the robot war that created its post-apocalyptic future. Directed by the Russo brothers, the movie starts streaming on March 14th.
