There have been some big updates from Netflix recently. Not only is the best streaming service removing one of its own Netflix Originals in the UK, The Power of the Dog, but multiple global releases have been pushed back to 2024 amid the writers' and actors' strike.
Netflix isn't the only studio to reschedule big releases, of course. As we reported earlier this week, Hulu and Sony are delaying many new movie and TV show releases too, and we're expecting many more as the strike continues. The strike affects not just films and shows being shot, but also reshoots and promotional work for finished movies and TV shows too.
The removal of The Power of the Dog is an odd one, though. It's a Netflix Original, but is being removed from the UK streaming service on August 18 and will instead be available on the BBC iPlayer. The move is temporary though as the film will be back on the streamer by next August 2024. Basically, because it was co-produced by a long list of production companies including See-Saw Films, Bad Girl Creek, Max Films and BBC Films, BBC already had the TV rights for it.
If you haven't already streamed it, you might want to correct that. Directed by Jane Campion and with a cast that includes Kirsten Dunst and Benedict Cumberbatch, it's a beautiful and sometimes savage movie. As The New Yorker put it: "amid all of the film’s romantic beauty darkness and violence lurk, including in unexpected places. What looks like it might become a love story turns out to be a tale of revenge."
Which movies has Netflix delayed until 2024?
The latest delays affect some new Netflix movies, these include A Family Affair, Damsel, Lift, Players, Shirley and Spaceman, according to What's on Netflix. However, not all are for the same reasons.
A Family Affair was originally scheduled for a November release but it's been swapped out for Rustin, which will air in its place. The romantic comedy starring Nicole Kidman, Zac Efron and Joey King will now stream at some point in 2024.
Damsel, a fantasy movie starring Millie Bobby Brown as an unusual princess, has been pushed back from October 2023 to some time in 2024. Although this was announced in March, a more precise release window still hasn't been specified. Likewise, Kevin Hart's comedy Lift, release date was moved in May from August 2023 to January 12 2024.
As for the romantic comedy Players, starring Tom Ellis, Gina Rodriguez and Liza Koshy, Regina King's biopic of Shirley Chisholm Shirley and the sci-fi drama Spaceman, which features Adam Sandler as the Czech Republic's first ever astronaut, their release schedules have still not yet been confirmed.
With no end in sight for the strike, it's likely that we'll see a lot more release schedule changes, not just in Netflix but across all the best streaming services.
