Netflix‘s reputation hasn’t been the most flattering ever since the Writers and Actors’ strikes exposed some of its more questionable business models. In just a few hours leading up to this Friday, the streamer was sued by a tabletop game maker for an alleged breach of contract and had a sneaky attempt at scabbing stopped by attentive SAG-AFTRA strikers.
Not a good look for Netflix, which has also been hit by poor reviews on its latest high-profile thriller and closed the door on its more noble roots for good.
Justin Timberlake whodunnit polarizes critics and audiences in early reviews
Justin Timberlake, Benicio Del Toro, and Alicia Silverstone — that’s a line-up any director would be lucky to have, especially for their first feature. Legendary music video director Grant Singer premiered his star-studded debut Reptile at TIFF earlier this month, and with the Netflix production now finally making it to the streamer, subscribers are butting heads with critics.
The admittedly small pool of reviews made by audience members has translated into a shiny 93% score on Rotten Tomatoes — a stark contrast from the film’s 45% on the Tomatometer, which measures professional reviews. While critics spared no punches in calling Reptile “superficial,” “wayward,” or “boring,” those tuning in via Netflix had a much friendlier approach. Viewers loved the murder mystery thriller for its intensity, “fun twists”, suspense, and cinematography. While opinions could not be more polarized, there is one thing everyone seems happy to agree with: Del Toro and Silverstone, who reconnect 26 years on from Excess Baggage, are Reptile‘s highlight for some, and saving grace for others.
End of an era: Netflix ships out its last ever DVDs
The Netflix red envelope is no more. Now one of the biggest entertainment companies in the world and the pioneer of streaming services, Netflix first started as a DVD mailing service, which would ship your chosen movies directly to your front step. Surprisingly, the service remained available for a quarter of a century, but on Friday, Sept. 29, 2023, Netflix sent out its last DVD.
According to The Guardian, less than one million customers were still using Netflix’s DVD mailing service when it closed down, a modest distance from its 16 million peak customer pool and only another small step away from the streaming side’s 238 million subscribers. OK, not really, but still, it’s impressive that a service that relied on a virtually dead format managed to stick it out this long, so it’s only right that Netflix gave it a fitting send-off.
The very last customers to receive DVDs in the mail will get to keep up to 10 discs for themselves instead of giving them back as used to be company policy. A thank you present to the faithful few who still valued the excitement of receiving something in the mail and getting to hold a physical copy of your favorite titles. Farewell.
Tabletop game company sues Netflix over Rebel Moon contract breach
Rebel Moon hasn’t even premiered and it’s already moonwalking into trouble. A tabletop game maker, who had pitched a game to Netflix based on Zack Snyder’s movie world is now suing the streaming company for breaching contract and creating false reasons to stop the game from being released, Reuters reports.
Evil Genius Games had created a complete game set including a Snyder-and-Netflix-approved 228-page “world bible” before it was completely cut off. It is now accusing Netflix of using false allegations to prevent the release of the game and take back the rights for Rebel Moon, in an effort to potentially bypass the middleman and release the game on its own. Netflix pulled the plug following a board game trade show in April, during which the streamer accused Evil Genius Games of releasing “confidential content and unapproved artwork.”
The tabletop publisher is seeking unspecified monetary compensation and the return of the rights to its Rebel Moon world bible.
SAG-AFTRA pickets stop Netflix from using pedestrian scabs to film Nicole Kidman limited series
Writers might have finally won their battle, but the war wages on for the Actors’ Union which is still picketing, demonstrating, and fighting scabs (even when they’re unaware they’re scabs). SAG-AFTRA was forced to intervene on Thursday when it found out Netflix was filming pedestrians driving cars in Nantucket, as they would have paid extras, in order to get footage for upcoming limited series The Perfect Couple led by Nicole Kidman, Liev Schreiber, Dakota Fanning, and Omar Epps.
No members of the cast participated in the shoot, and it’s unclear whether they even knew about this attempt to swerve the strike. While the union successfully stopped the scabbing attempt by picketing, Netflix simply moved production elsewhere, Deadline was told by a close source.