Netflix pitched Marvel-style ‘Lord Of The Rings’ TV universe to Tolkien estate

Netflix announced an upcoming thriller Korean series, The Bequeathed, to be written by Train To Busan and Hellbound director Yeon Sang-ho.South Korean news outlet Yonhap News Agency reported yesterday (October 18) that Netflix had decided to produce the brand-new series written and directed by Yeon Sang-ho. The streaming platform also announced the casting of actors Kim Hyun-joo (Trolley, Love All Play) and Park Hee-soon (A Model Family, My Name) in lead roles for The Bequeathed.

Netflix co-CEO and chief content officer Ted Sarandos tossed cold water on hopes that the streamer’s recent deal with major cinema chains for Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery could be the start of something bigger.

The second season of Netflix’s hit series Ginny & Georgia has been long delayed and the show’s star Brianne Howey recently opened up about what’s causing the wait.

Netflix said today that its closely watched paid membership number is becoming “just one component” of total revenue growth, so as of the fourth quarter it will stop offering forward-looking subscriber forecasts.

Netflix has been in the video game space for close to a year and is doubling down.

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor After two straight quarters of subscriber losses, Netflix returned to growth in the third quarter of 2022 — and told investors it’s expecting a strong Q4 to finish the year, even though it doesn’t expect big gains right away from the launch of its cheaper, ad-supported plans. The streaming giant reported 2.41 million net new paid subscribers in Q3, including a gain of 100,000 in the U.S./Canada region, to stand at 223.1 million worldwide as of the end of September. That handily topped Netflix’s previous forecast of a 1 million pickup for the period. For Q4, Netflix expects to gain 4.5 million new streaming customers, compared with 8.3 million in the year-earlier quarter. Netflix Basic With Ads is slated to launch in the U.S. on Nov. 3 and priced at $6.99 per month — three dollars less than the regular Basic plan. Similar ad tiers are also coming next month to 11 other countries: Australia, Brazil, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Mexico, South Korea, Spain and the U.K.

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor Netflix will no longer share projected subscriber targets in upcoming earnings reports — a closely tracked metric among investors — as the company looks to shift the narrative to its financial performance. Starting with Netflix’s fourth-quarter 2022 earnings report in January 2023, it will not provide guidance for the next quarter (Q1 of 2023). The company will continue to provide guidance for revenue, operating income, operating margin, net income, EPS and fully diluted shares outstanding for the following quarter, but not paid membership. Click here to sign up for Variety’s free Strictly Business newsletter covering earnings, financial news, and more. “As discussed in previous letters, we are increasingly focused on revenue as our primary top-line metric,” Netflix said in its Q3 shareholder letter. “This will become particularly important heading into 2023 as we develop new revenue streams like advertising and paid sharing, where membership is just one component of our revenue growth.”

Netflix topped Wall Street estimates across the board in the third quarter, marking the start of what the streaming giant hopes is its big comeback.

The mammoth cast of Rian Johnson’s murder mystery sequel, Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery, sidestepped spoilers and jumped over plot lines as they presented their film Sunday morning at a London Film Festival press conference.

In the latest fantasy streaming battle, The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power retained a slim lead over House of the Dragon on Nielsen’s weekly streaming chart for September 12 to 18.

Selling Sunset’s Jason Oppenheim was left heartbroken when his relationship with Chrishell Stause ended last December.The pair went their separate ways because of their differentiating views on starting a family. Since then, the Real Estate brokerage-owner has found love with German model Marie-Lou Nurk and his Netflix co-star Chrishell is now in a relationship with singer G-Flip. But the 45 year old told OK! he’s still on great terms with his ex and he has “so much love and respect for her.” “We spoke today actually,” Jason said.

It’s common knowledge, at this point, that Amazon Studios paid roughly $700 million for the first season of “The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power.” That does include more than $200 million for the rights agreement with the Tolkien Estate, but even still, that’s a mammoth amount of money. And instead of going with tried and true showrunners or filmmakers with an established pedigree, Amazon Studios chose relative unknowns, Patrick McKay and J.D.

Florence Pugh is determined to get to the bottom of a mystery in the new trailer for her movie, The Wonder.

Lurid mysteries abound in Chilean filmmaker Sebastián Lelio’s latest feature, “The Wonder.” Starring “Don’t Worry Darling” and “Little Women” Oscar nominee Florence Pugh as an nurse tasked with caring for an ailing 11-year-old girl who’s inexplicably not eaten in four months, the first trailer showcases an atmospheric, 19th century tale with eerie twists and turns as Pugh nurse, the girl’s family and the townspeople around them fights to determine the young girl’s secret. Per a logline from distributor Netflix, which debuted the film Sept.

Michael Schneider Variety Editor at Large Yes, there’s still a Fall TV season, and yes, it’s now well under way. Broadcast TV got a little pep in its step last year thanks to two freshman sitcom phenoms: ABC’s “Abbott Elementary” and CBS’ “Ghosts.” When asked to tout their new wares, several network execs instead opted to shine more spotlight on returning shows they hope to keep buzzing as sophomore sensations. It’s time for Variety’s annual fall check-in with network heads across broadcast, cable and streaming — although how to do that proves tricky these days. Many execs’ gigs transcend platforms, after all — like Disney’s Craig Erwich, who serves as entertainment president for both ABC and Hulu, or the NBCUniversal duo of Susan Rovner and Frances Berwick, whose domain stretches across programming for broadcast, network and streaming.

With just a few days of release under its belt, Prime Video’s “Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power” managed to top two of Nielsen top 10 streaming charts.“The Rings of Power” landed at the top of streaming programs and streaming original programs charts. This week’s release from Nielsen covers titles available on streaming from 8/29 to 9/4.