After the subversive horror hybrid “Weapons” being a hit with audiences, it looked like filmmaker Zach Cregger (“Barbarian”) was getting ready to make both Sony‘s “Resident Evil” remake (now filming with Austin Abrams and Paul Walter Hauser among the cast) and his gestating sci-fi film “The Flood” was also on deck. However, according to a report, the latter has stalled at Netflix as the two parties are still having trouble agreeing on a theatrical release.
The Wrap says that Netflix was looking to be the place where Cregger was going to make “The Flood” (as part of a deal with Steven Spielberg‘s Amblin Entertainment), but things became a bit contentious after the streaming service and director couldn’t work out what was going to happen with the sci-fi film’s theatrical rollout with the streaming service. Netflix, notably not very open or concerned about theatrical windows for their originals, only grants them to specific projects/filmmakers.
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While the newly minted film division chairman Dan Lin is said to have “dangled a theatrical commitment” for “The Flood” when visiting Cregger in Prague (where he’s shooting “Resident Evil”). However, the report mentions that Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos would go on to allegedly meddle with that deal, shooting it down, leaving the film in limbo for the moment until that theatrical angle is all ironed out.
Other unnamed sources are under the impression that talks are ongoing and a decision hasn’t been ultimately made, or if Cregger/Amblin are allowed to shop “The Flood” elsewhere (wouldn’t be the first movie that Netflix lets go, they gave up on “Masters of the Universe” as the remake moved to Amazon MGM Studios).
Netflix potentially throwing away the possibility of funding and getting their mitts on a Cregger original sounds as dumb as it gets, but Sarandos (maybe, going out of his way to ignore the recent success of “KPop Demon Hunters” at the box office as Netflix could have a larger footprint in theaters, if they had any ambition for that) maybe needs to learn that harsh lesson while he’s willing to make similar deals with Guillermo del Toro (“Frankenstein”) and Greta Gerwig (“Narnia”) on their own high-profile Netflix movies getting minor theatrical runs before becoming streaming exclusives.
Then again, since this isn’t official, we should wait to hear from Amblin, Netflix brass, or Cregger on the fate of “The Flood” as the director is currently busy with “Resident Evil” for a good chunk of time.
Details about “The Flood” are being kept under lock-and-key, understandable given Cregger’s track record with complex twisty plots and not wanting to spoil his projects before they’re released to the public.
- Christopher Marc
- Christopher Marc
- Christopher Marc
- Christopher Marc
- Christopher Marc
- Christopher Marc
- Christopher Marc
