Despite recent reports that Netflix is working hard to supply a cooking show starring Meghan Markle and a series about skilled polo starring Prince Harry, the streamer is “not expected” to renew the spectacular five-year, $100 million deal it signed with the couple in 2020.
That's what Puck co-founder Matthew Belloni and entertainment reporter Lesley Goldberg say. In Belloni's Monday newsletter, he and Goldberg called Netflix's take care of the California-based royal couple and their production company Archewell certainly one of the “worst” in Hollywood's television heyday.
They noted that the couple's 2022 docuseries, “Harry and Meghan,” about their departure from their unhappy royal life, was a blockbuster hit. Critics say that's since the Duke and Duchess of Sussex spilled dirty words in regards to the British monarchy and Harry's relatives.
Belloni and Goldberg said not one of the couple's other projects were “connected” in the identical way, including Meghan's “passion project,” a children's animated series called “Pearl,” which was canceled before it even began. Belloni and Goldberg also said Meghan's upcoming cooking show and Harry's announced polo series were two other “offers” that weren’t expected to be “connected.”
If Harry and Meghan lose the Netflix deal, it could prove to be one other disappointment for the aspiring media moguls after Spotify cut ties with them in June 2023, reportedly on account of low production. Like Netflix, Spotify signed a serious take care of them shortly after the couple moved to California, reportedly paying them $20 million to supply a series of podcasts. But Meghan only managed to place out 12 episodes of a podcast series called “Archetypes.”
Last yr, the couple were the topic of reports in The Wrap and other industry publications that said that they had “lost their reputation” in Hollywood and missed opportunities because they were demanding to work with and lacked experience.
For the Puck newsletter, Harry and Meghan's high-profile Netflix deal joins a protracted list of failures in Hollywood's bloated Peak TV era. The list includes “the most expensive showrunner deals, the nine-figure contracts that resulted in zero new shows, and the biggest screw-ups” of the era.
Fans of the Montecito duo ought to be pleased to see their names mentioned in the identical breath as other Hollywood heavyweights who’ve nevertheless turn into “underperformers.” These veteran producers, creators and showrunners have loads of experience and a track record within the industry – unlike Harry and Meghan. But like Harry and Meghan, they did not deliver on the guarantees of the multimillion-dollar production deals they signed with producers and studios. The list of “underperformers” includes JJ Abrams, “Game of Thrones” creators David Benioff & DB Weiss, Seth MacFarlane, Phoebe Waller-Bridge and Ava DuVernay.
The list also includes Barack and Michelle Obama and their production company Higher Ground. Netflix signed a multimillion-dollar production take care of the previous First Couple in 2018. While Deadline reported in June that the deal had been “fruitful” and Higher Ground had “become one of Netflix's top suppliers of trending film and television projects,” Belloni and Goldberg said the corporate's “management changes and slow production” had frustrated the streamer.
As for Harry and Meghan's current relationship with Netflix, reports earlier this month said Meghan's cooking show wouldn’t be released until spring 2025. The streaming service has yet to announce when it’s able to release the show, although filming has reportedly wrapped in Los Angeles and her hometown of Montecito.
Both the Daily Beast and the Daily Mail reported that the cooking show aired to coincide with the launch of Meghan's latest luxury lifestyle brand, America Riviera Orchard.
The media hype surrounding the cooking show and the American Riviera Orchard (AOR) brand created anticipation amongst Meghan's fans and critics that each would launch in the autumn. Hype around the luxurious home and lifestyle products promised by AOR exploded within the spring as Meghan's celebrity friends tried to drum up excitement about her latest enterprise. Kris Jenner, Chrissy Teigen and others boasted on social media that they were among the many lucky few to receive their limited-edition AOR pots of raspberry and strawberry jam, in addition to some likely expensive dog biscuits.
But the Daily Beast reported that Meghan may not give you the option to follow the principle of “strike while the iron is hot” relating to distributing and marketing her brand. And that's not simply because it can reportedly happen similtaneously the Netflix series.
The US Patent and Trademark Office also told the previous Hollywood TV actress that she needed to correct “irregularities” within the applications she had filed with the office, the Daily Mail reported. The office has informed Meghan's lawyers of several issues, including the misclassification of other proposed AOR products equivalent to yoga blankets, picnic baskets and cookbooks. Unfortunately for AOR, trademark applications could take around eight months to review and as much as 14 months to register, the Daily Mail reported.
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