The Mothership was, at some point, one of the great bets of Netflix in its catalog of original films. But not anymore. The company has decided cancel the feature film starring Halle Berrydespite the fact that filming had already been completed and post-production work was being carried out.
The news causes some surprise, although it cannot be said that it is a shock total. Let’s keep in mind that Netflix had promised to release The Mothership in 2022, but that did not happen. Since then, the film was forgotten until it was finally decided to discard it permanently.
The reasons behind Netflix’s decision have not been entirely clear. As reported IGN and Jeff Sneider This week, Halle Berry’s film suffered multiple delays during post-production, to the point where its release became unsustainable. “The film could not be completed”indicated one of those close to the project.
For now, it is unknown if the cancellation of The Mothership was influenced by economic issues – whether it went over budget, for example – or whether the quality of the recorded material or the visual effects could have played a role in this story.
The cancellation of a film when its filming has already completed is not something new, although it is quite uncommon in the industry. And when it does happen, it usually generates quite a scandal. The most notable case in recent years was that of batgirlwhich Warner Bros. canceled when the feature film was already finished, because it was supposedly so bad that it couldn’t even be saved with reshoots.
The Mothership It was announced in 2021 as a science fiction story that would focus on the character of Halle Berry, who discovered clues of an alien presence on Earth after the disappearance of her husband. The actress also served as executive producer of the project, whose script and direction was in charge of Matt Charman.
Netflix throws in the towel with The Mothershipwith Halle Berry
It will be interesting to see if the relationship between Netflix and Halle Berry is negatively affected following the decision not to release this film. Let’s keep in mind that the streaming platform and the actress have already collaborated in the past and, in fact, they still have the premiere of another original production pending.
Halle Berry and Netflix began their relationship with the film bruised, which marked the Oscar winner’s directorial debut. The 2020 film, also starring and produced by the actress, had limited distribution in theaters and arrived on the streaming platform in 2021.
It was at that same time that work began with The Mothershipwhose filming took place between June and August 2021. While Netflix still has to release The Union, where Halle Berry shares the lead with Mark Wahlberg and JK Simmons. The espionage thriller completed filming in 2022, but does not yet have a confirmed release date.
In recent years, Netflix has allocated billions of dollars to original productions and the results have not always been as desired. At the time it was said that the company would modify its strategy to produce less content of this type, but of better quality. This week, during the presentation of the financial results for the quarter, Ted Sarandosco-CEO of the platform, ratified his commitment to original feature films.
“Our original films are attracting some of the largest audiences in the world. Fans don’t really care much about budgets or release dates. They just want a movie they love.. “They want a movie that makes them cry or laugh, or see something cool to talk about at dinner,” said the executive. Of course, he made no mention of canceled projects like Halle Berry’s.