Gorillaz fans won’t feel good today. Damon Albarn and Jamie McKelvie’s virtual collaborative band has been turning out awesome animated videos since the early 2000s, but the pair will be experiencing some humility as Netflix has raised the white flag and canceled their upcoming animated movie, which has been in some form of development since 2002.
The news came from Albarn himself in an interview with the Belgian magazine HUMO (via Stereogum). Albarn sounded busted and blue when quizzed about the movie’s status, saying:
“Without naming names because the whole matter has not yet been settled: the streaming platform for which we were making the film has withdrawn. They started to panic because they were making too much content and decided to cut back on their movie offerings. And, as has been classic Hollywood practice for decades, the guy we were working with has moved on to another company. From then on you have lost your guardian angel, and there seems to be a bad smell hanging on you. Hollywood is quite territorial: if a new guy comes along, he must and will have a different opinion, even if he secretly agrees with his predecessor.”
We’ve been fans ever since “Clint Eastwood,” and we’re hoping the movie would be a whirlwind ride through the Gorillaz universe, so this news has left us up on Melancholy Hill. But there may still be a chance of ascension, as we dare to dream the band may yet rock the house by shopping the project to another streaming platform.
Fortunately, Gorillaz is about to release another batch of new gold. Their latest, Cracker Island, is released this Friday, so expect to see us dancing under the strobelite when we get our hands on a copy. We experienced momentary bliss when we saw the list of collaborators, which includes Bad Bunny, Stevie Nicks, Adeleye Omotayo, and Beck.
With newly tightfisted Netflix bringing down the hammer on promising projects, we’re certainly living in Strange Timez, as this was one project that didn’t seem like a simple re-hash of an existing property. Oh well, that’s Hollywood for you.
Cracker Island will be released on Feb. 24.