Netflix’s Leaked Movie Memo Reveals What Dan Lin Wants Next, and ‘Superbad’ Is the Blueprint
Streaming subscribers have spent the last few years watching Netflix’s movie output swing wildly, from a firehose of forgettable action flicks to a noticeably thinner, more curated slate. Fans have watched Netflix original movies decline steadily from a peak of 50 new releases in the first quarter of 2022, and that shift has only accelerated since a new regime took over the film division.
That regime belongs to Dan Lin, who stepped into the chairman role after Scott Stuber’s exit, and whose entire philosophy has centered on fewer, stronger bets rather than volume. Bloomberg previously reported that Lin’s stated goal was making fewer movies while prioritizing certain genres, a strategy that trimmed the domestic slate down from the old “one movie a week” pace fans had grown used to.
Now, a newly surfaced internal document is putting real numbers and specifics behind that vision. According to a report from Jeff Sneider’s The Insneider, Netflix’s leaked studio mandates spell out exactly what kinds of movies the company is buying and greenlighting under Lin, and the headline figure confirms the streamer is now targeting just 30 original movies a year. Just as notable, the report claims completion rate, not raw viewership starts, is now the ultimate measure of success at Netflix Film.
The genre breakdown is where things get specific. On the action side, overseen by executive Ori Marmur, Netflix is chasing grounded 90s and early 2000s style action thrillers with clean hooks, and heavy CGI space operas in the mold of ‘Rebel Moon’ are firmly out. Sci-fi is expected to stay earthbound rather than galaxy hopping, and heavy fantasy only survives if it comes attached to serious existing intellectual property.
Comedy, led by Jason Young, is splitting into two very different lanes. Netflix wants massive star vehicles built around repeat partners like Adam Sandler and Kevin Hart alongside ensemble comedies in the vein of ‘Bridesmaids,’ while also chasing sub twenty million dollar comedies aimed at specific audiences, with ‘Superbad’ cited as the internal North Star. The rom-com wish list reportedly leans on comps like ‘Notting Hill’ and ‘There’s Something About Mary.’
Perhaps the most eyebrow raising section covers family, holiday and faith based content, a division run by Kira Goldberg. That team reportedly has money to spend before year’s end and is actively hunting for pitches rather than pre packaged projects, with a wish list that includes ‘Jurassic Park’ and ‘Jungle Cruise’ style family adventure, a high concept comedy on the level of ‘Mrs. Doubtfire,’ and live action hybrids built around public domain characters.
Netflix has stayed quiet publicly whenever these mandates surface, and Lin himself rarely gives interviews about the film side of the business. Still, if you take the memo at face value, the picture that emerges is a Netflix betting on fewer swings that actually connect, with the full breakdown of the studio’s genre by genre wish list laid out in What’s on Netflix’s reporton the leaked mandate.
Between the ‘Superbad’ comparisons, the ‘Jurassic Park’ ambitions and the apparent end of the CGI space opera, which corner of this new Netflix movie strategy has you the most curious, and which one worries you that the streamer might be aiming too safe?
