Netflix Cancels A Pair Of Already Completed Movies
Netflix cancelled the completed films Inheritance and House/Wife after all of the filming and post-production work was already done.
With the economy on the precipice of a possible recession, fans of the movie industry are becoming accustomed to a new reality that a finished movie doesn’t mean they will ever get to see it. According to The Hollywood Reporter, two new films, The Inheritance and House/Wife, that have finished production will never see the light of day. With this news, Netflix joins the list of streaming services and studios axing projects regardless of all the work being completed.
According to the report, the two films will no longer be moving forward but will now be shopped around the industry for other suitors to buy and stream. This isn’t the first time this process has been utilized by services; Netflix joins HBO Max, Paramount, and others who have used the same tactic. The fact that the two films are still being shopped is what sets them apart from the others, whereas to get the tax write-off, the films can never see the light of day.
The Inheritance would have followed the story of a 75-year-old, Bob Gunton (The Shawshank Redemption and Daredevil), who invites his children to his home on the eve of his birthday to protect him from death. He puts his children’s considerable inheritance on the line and uses it as leverage to force them to defend him or lose it. The Netflix film would have also starred Rachel Nichols (Continuum, Star Trek, G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra), Peyton List (Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Dog Days and Cobra Kai), and Austin Stowell (Bridge of Spies, Whiplash, and Battle of the Sexes).
Not much is known about House/Wife other than it would have come from director Danis Goulet and producers Tripp Vinson and Daniel Bekerman. Tripp Vinson is best known for producing Hansel and Gretal: Witch Hunters with Jeremy Renner and Emily Blunt, San Andreas with Dwayne Johnson, and the Netflix film Murder Mystery and its sequel, starring Adam Sandler and Jennifer Aniston. Daniel Bekerman’s producer credits include Ready or Not with Samara Weaving and Adam Brody and Netflix’s revamp of The Craft.
HBO seemed to start this trend of canceling movies that had been completed when they began gutting the DCU with the axing of the completed Batgirl film, starting a chain reaction that ended the Snyderverse, along with a Scooby-Doo animated film. Paramount+ jumped on board with the trend when they canceled a film adaptation of their popular comedy, Workaholics. In the TV industry, AMC stands to pick up $400 million in write-offs by axing Damascus, 61st Street, and Invitation to a Bonfire, all of which were either finished or near finished.
It is unclear why Netflix has decided to move on from the films, and the fact that they are now free to be shopped to other streamers seems to suggest that it isn’t about a write-off. One thing is for sure, this is a better ending than HBO Max’s situation, as fans of the filmmakers’ work will actually get to see their work eventually.
