The film’s struggles have elicited no more than a shrug inside the company, demonstrating how different Netflix is from traditional studios.
Netflix spent over $275 million to make “The Electric State,” a sci-fi action adventure film starring Millie Bobby Brown, Chris Pratt and a slew of sentient robots. Had it opened in theaters, instead of on its service as it did on March 14, the film would almost certainly be declared a giant disappointment.
Reviews have been dismal. And though the movie debuted at No. 1 on the streaming giant’s weekly chart of most-watched movies, it had far fewer views (25.2 million) than other expensive features, including “The Gray Man” (96.5 million), which was made by the same directors, the brothers Joe and Anthony Russo.
But there was little hand-wringing inside Netflix this week. No marketing chief was blamed. No production executive packed up her office.
Instead, the movie demonstrates how different Netflix is from the traditional studios — and how easily the company can spend so much for a middling result without Wall Street’s noticing. (Its stock is up slightly this week.)
Truth is, no one piece of content moves the needle at Netflix in either direction. “Squid Game 2” was the most-watched title in the company’s most recent engagement report, with 87 million views, but it accounted for only 0.7 percent of total viewing. Rather, the $18 billion that the company spends each year on movies and shows is meant to reach a worldwide audience with different tastes and interests. The budget for “The Electric State” represents 1.5 percent of what the company will spend on content this year.
“It’s comical to me that Hollywood and the press obsess over Netflix’s mistakes while they have one of the most viral global hits in ‘Adolescence’ right now at a nothing budget,” said Richard Greenfield, a media analyst with Lightshed Partners. He was referring to a distressing — and zeitgeisty — four-part series about a teenage boy accused of murder that has generated 24.3 million views.