Netflix Searches For Franchises After Losing Out On "Harry Potter"
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After losing its bid for Warner Bros Discovery’s rich trove of
characters and stories, Netflix is forging ahead with the challenging
work of building culture-defining franchises on its own.
Chief Creative Officer Bela Bajaria said Netflix would keep investing
in original ideas, and partner with established studios like MGM and
Warner Bros, to try and produce movies and series that live on for
years, in the vein of “Stranger Things,” “Wednesday” and “Bridgerton.”
“To me, that’s just continually the goal,” Bajaria said in an
interview.
Yet the failed attempt to buy Warner Bros’ storied movie studio and HBO highlighted a vulnerability for the relative Hollywood upstart, whose
catalog of original films and series spans around a dozen years,
compared with more than a century’s worth of stories and characters for
Warner Bros, Walt Disney and Universal Pictures. Netflix was willing to
make its biggest bet ever with $72 billion to shore up its library and
augment its intellectual property with Harry Potter and “Game of
Thrones,” because creating franchises has proven challenging.
Interviews with 16 current and former Netflix executives, industry
leaders and agents illustrate a picture of the streaming giant whose
strategy of making something for everyone, and serving many audiences
all at once, is different from crafting a Taylor Sheridan-like universe
of “Yellowstone” spin-offs that brings a built-in audience.
Even so, Netflix’s own prolific showrunner, Shonda Rhimes, has
successfully adapted Julia Quinn’s “Bridgerton” novels into a series
that’s entering its fifth season, a spinoff and a touring event set in
the Regency-era London, dubbed “The Queen’s Ball.”
Franchises can be valuable for entertainment companies, because they
are lower-risk investments that can bring in ancillary revenue through merchandise sales and in-person experiences. Recognizable characters
and stories also stand out in a fragmented media landscape, grabbing a viewer’s attention in a time of myriad distractions.
Netflix announced its first major acquisition, the comic book publisher Millarworld, a day before Disney told investors in August 2017 that it
would pull its movies from the streaming service to create a rival,
later dubbed Disney+.
“Stranger Things” has been an unqualified success, producing a spin-off series, a stage play, and merchandise. Netflix points to other
examples, such as the action-adventure film “Extraction,” starring
Chris Hemsworth, that led to a sequel and a third installment in
production, as well as a series starring acclaimed French actor Omar
Sy. Its long-running dating show “Love Is Blind” has been remade for
multiple global audiences, including versions centered in Brazil,
France and Japan.
There have been pricey flops along the way to building its own
franchises, like the reported $700 million deal to acquire rights to
Roald Dahl’s catalog, which includes such beloved children’s stories as “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.” The investment has yet to produce
a major hit in five years — though Netflix will try again this year. It
plans a Willy Wonka-inspired reality show called “Golden Ticket” in
which competitors try to survive games and temptations on a set with a chocolate river.
Producing consistent hits that spawn new series helps to attract and
retain subscribers and increase engagement, which grew by only 2% in
the second half of 2025, according to media consultant Owl & Co. Top-
line growth has been slowing, with revenue expected to grow 13% this
year, according to data from LSEG, compared to 16% in 2025, and its advertising sales represent only 3% of the total. YouTube’s ascendancy
poses a competitive threat. YouTube and Disney, with its vault of
iconic characters, have consistently beaten Netflix in share of
television viewing since October 2024, according to Nielsen’s media distributor gauge, which measures broadcast and cable television
viewing and streaming.
Complicating matters, Paramount Skydance is acquiring Warner Bros,
which could reduce the number of suppliers of original shows.
Armed with a $2.8 billion windfall from the failed Warner Bros deal,
Netflix Co-CEOs Ted Sarandos and Greg Peters will continue to go it
alone. Its coming releases include time-tested characters and stories, including a live-action “Scooby-Doo” series and a “Narnia” movie based
on the C.S. Lewis books and directed by Greta Gerwig.
“The Electric State” offers one example of an expensive failure that illustrates the inherent risks in attempting to launch a sprawling
Marvel-like cinematic universe.
Netflix snagged Joe and Anthony Russo, the brothers behind the smashing success of Walt Disney’s Avengers movies and Netflix’s own
“Extraction,” to adapt the critically acclaimed science-fiction novel,
and cast “Stranger Things” star Millie Bobby Brown alongside Hollywood A-lister Chris Pratt as stars.
Critics savaged the $320 million film when it was released last year.
Plans to more fully exploit the film — including a possible spin-off
series and sequels — never materialized, according to two sources
directly involved with the project who requested anonymity to protect
their industry relationships.
“A lot of people have big movies that also are IP that don’t work,”
said Netflix’s Bajaria. “We’re in the film and TV business, so a lot of
things work, a lot of things don’t work.”
Other gambles — such as Netflix’s decision to greenlight “Squid Game,”
a dystopian thriller from creator Hwang Dong-hyuk that others had
passed on — paid off handsomely, creating a global juggernaut.
With the sheer volume of content, Netflix also has its share of
surprises, like Sony Pictures Animation’s Oscar-winning animated film
”KPop Demon Hunters,” which last year became the most watched movie
ever on the service.
When lightning strikes, it can rely on its unparalleled global
distribution and sophisticated algorithm to stoke enthusiasm for a
movie or series that viewers have begun to binge, helping to create
cultural phenomena.
Netflix is treating “KPop Demon Hunters” as its next major franchise,
with licensed toys and other merchandise from Mattel and Hasbro, themed “adult” meals from McDonald’s, a possible concert tour and a planned
animated sequel.
But the success caught Netflix off guard, according to two sources. In
fact, the company didn’t have licensed toys available to capitalize on
the phenomenon during the holiday shopping season. Netflix has said in interviews that it approached toymakers and retailers a year or more
ahead of the film’s release, but they were unwilling to take a risk on
an untested property.
At a March 18 presentation in Los Angeles, Netflix showcased its 2026
lineup, which includes a fourth installment of “Bridgerton,” a second
season of “One Piece,” an adaptation of the long-running manga series,
a live-action TV series based on the “Assassin’s Creed” video game
franchise, and a reboot of “Little House on the Prairie.”
“We’re off to a strong start and feeling confident about the quality
and consistency of our slate this year,” said Jinny Howe, vice
president of original series at Netflix.
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