Skip to main content

Netflix

With nearly 150 million subscribers around the world, Netflix has a commanding lead in the streaming wars. But it’s also facing heavy competition from deep-pocketed conglomerates like Disney, Apple, and AT&T, and an ongoing wave of narrow, targeted streaming sites like CBS All Access and DC Universe, which can draw on popular existing franchises for original content. As fewer companies are willing to license out their films and shows to other streaming sites, Netflix is pouring billions of dollars annually into its own original content. Follow along with The Verge as we look at Netflix’s new films and shows, its evolving strategies against new entrants in the market, and how it’s leveraging its technological and marketing lead.

Bespoke AI models are the next big thing in filmmaking

Ben Affleck’s AI startup, recently purchased by Netflix for around $600 million, has a different approach to gen AI.

Charles Pulliam-Moore
J
External Link
Jay Peters
Overcooked, now with a Demogorgon.

The stressful-yet-delightful party game is now available as one of Netflix’s streaming TV games that you control with your phone. This version lets you play as 10 “Netflix celebrity chefs,” including the famous Stranger Things monster.

Netflix is also working on an Overcooked reality show.

If you buy something from a Verge link, Vox Media may earn a commission. See our ethics statement.

T
External Link
Terrence O'Brien
Netflix Co-CEO Ted Sarandos says he’s not pivoting to another studio after losing out on Warner Bros.

In an interview with Bloomberg, he explained why he backed out of the deal and said Netflix pursued Warner because it was a unique opportunity. “We definitely wanted this asset. We didn’t need it,” he said, praising its “incredible IP” and long history. But he was clear the plan was to just move on:

Is there a world in which you guys go after another studio in the next 6 to 12 months?

Unlikely. We are builders, not buyers. All that is still true.

So how are you going to use that $2.8 billion?

Just keep investing in the business.

R
Quote
Richard Lawler
Warner Bros. says Paramount’s latest offer is superior to its current deal with Netflix.

A four-day clock for Netflix to respond just started, but here are the details of the offer that include a starting price of $31 per share and other assurances, like:

“…a $7 billion regulatory termination fee payable by PSKY in the event the transaction does not close due to regulatory matters, payment by PSKY of the $2.8 billion termination fee that WBD would be required to pay to Netflix to terminate the existing Netflix merger agreement, an obligation of Larry J. Ellison and an associated trust to contribute additional equity funding”

R
Richard Lawler
Warner Bros. says Paramount Skydance’s new bid might become better than Netflix’s.

Warner Bros. Discovery is telling shareholders it’s “continuing to engage” with Paramount after receiving its latest offer yesterday.

The new bid offers $31 per share, “a daily ticking fee equal to $0.25 per quarter beginning after September 30, 2026,” plus $7 billion from Paramount if regulators block the deal, and $2.8 billion to pay Netflix’s termination fee, among other details. If the board likes this bid better, it says Netflix will have four days to respond.

M
Youtube
Meredith Haggerty
We’re doing Pride and Prejudice again.

Jane Austen’s signature work is being adapted for Netflix. Think Pride and Prejudice and Zombies (2016), but no zombies, so think the 2005 film starring Keira Knightley and Matthew Macfadyen, but a series, so think the 1995 miniseries starring Jennifer Ehle and Colin Firth.

It’s scheduled for release sometime later this year; Emma Corrin and Jack Lowden star.

J
External Link
Jay Peters
Netflix will livestream a rematch between Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao.

Netflix’s latest livestreamed boxing match will take place on September 19th at the Las Vegas Sphere.

If you buy something from a Verge link, Vox Media may earn a commission. See our ethics statement.

R
External Link
Richard Lawler
Ted Sarandos: “This is a business deal, it’s not a political deal.”

The Netflix boss is apparently not too worried about Trump’s meddling in his company’s attempt to purchase Warner Bros. He told BBC Today that Netflix’s offer left Hollywood with five major studios instead of four, and Trump, “likes to do a lot of things on social media.”

However, on Monday afternoon, Bloomberg reported Paramount Skydance has submitted another competing offer, improving on its previous $30 per share bid.

C
Youtube
Charles Pulliam-Moore
I Am Frankelda is coming to Netflix

I Am Frankelda co-writer / directors Arturo and Roy Ambriz’s stop motion dark fantasy film about a girl with a strange connection to another dimension — has been acquired by Netflix and is slated to debut on the streamer sometime later this year.

A Star is born

One night in the audience of Netflix’s most ambitious live show yet.

David Pierce
E
External Link
Emma Roth
Paramount ups its offer for Warner Bros. Discovery, again.

Now, Paramount is offering to cover the $2.8 billion termination fee that Warner Bros. Discovery would owe Netflix for abandoning the $82.7 billion merger agreement. It’s also tossing in a $0.25 per share “ticking fee” that it would pay shareholders for every quarter its deal hasn’t closed beyond December 31st, 2026.

C
Youtube
Charles Pulliam-Moore
This isn’t even Tony Tony Chopper’s final form.

There’s a lot to see in Netflix’s new trailer for the live-action One Piece’s upcoming second season, but the most surprising reveal here is a fresh look at Tony Tony Chopper’s (Mikaela Hoover) Walk Point form that turns him into a much more normal-looking reindeer. The show’s out March 10th.

A
Youtube
Antonio G. Di Benedetto
Netflix’s drip feed of new Sesame Street episodes continues March 9th.

The next four episodes of Sesame Street are dropping soon on Netflix and will include a cameo from Miley Cyrus.

Will they also go back to having a Letter and Number of the Day and a proper ending song? I won’t hold my breath, but I’ll still be bitter.

J
External Link
Jay Peters
BTS, live on Netflix.

You’ll be able to livestream the famous K-Pop group’s first concert in three years on March 21st, the day after the new BTS album comes out. You might want some coffee, though; the show starts at 7AM ET that day.

A
TikTok
Andru Marino
Are Netflix’s podcasts actually podcasts?

Though Netflix originals The Pete Davidson Show and The White House with Michael Irvin look and feel like a podcast, they lack a lot of features podcast listeners are used to, like RSS feed downloads and chapter markers. Here’s my take.

Netflix is eating Hollywood — because it has to
Play

What the bidding war over Warner Bros. Discovery says about the future of Hollywood, with Puck’s Julia Alexander.

Nilay Patel
Truth and AI in MinneapolisTruth and AI in Minneapolis
David Pierce
E
External Link
Emma Roth
Netflix says it’s using AI to improve subtitle localization.

As part of its earnings report released on Tuesday, Netflix also said it has launched AI-powered tools designed to “connect members with the most relevant titles for them to watch.” It also plans on building upon its AI advertising tools that already allow companies to blend Netflix’s IP with their ads.

J
External Link
Jay Peters
Netflix’s “cloud-first games strategy” is one of its focuses for 2026.

Netflix, in its Q4 shareholder letter, says that early results for its cloud-streamed TV games launched last year are “encouraging.” It’s going to expand the lineup in 2026 with games like its new FIFA football sim. (No mention of new games available on mobile.)

J
External Link
Jay Peters
Live-action Universal films are coming to Netflix “much sooner than expected.”

Originally, the live-action movies were going to come to Netflix starting in 2027, but What’s on Netflix reports that they’re appearing starting this year, beginning with Megan 2.0 on January 26th. The films still stream on Peacock first before jumping to Netflix.

T
Quote
Terrence O'Brien
Matt Damon told Joe Rogan that Netflix wants movies to repeatedly explain the plot in dialogue because people are always on their phone.

Matt Damon and Ben Affleck went on the Joe Rogan Experience to promote their new film The Rip, and ended up sharing some very depressing details about Netflix’s love of repeated exposition dumps and its approach to filmmaking in this age of constant distraction. As Variety reports:

“The standard way to make an action movie that we learned was, you usually have three set pieces. One in the first act, one in the second, one in the third,” Damon explained. “You spend most of your money on that one in the third act. That’s your finale. And now they’re like, ‘Can we get a big one in the first five minutes? We want people to stay. And it wouldn’t be terrible if you reiterated the plot three or four times in the dialogue because people are on their phones while they’re watching.’”

J
External Link
Jay Peters
Netflix and Sony have a new global streaming deal.

As part of a multiyear agreement, Sony Picture Entertainment films will stream on Netflix worldwide following their “full theatrical and home entertainment runs.” The deal is worth more than $7 billion, Deadline reports. Netflix already has Pay-1 rights in the US and other select territories.