David Cronenberg explains why Netflix keeps turning him down

"I mean, I think they're still like a Hollywood studio."

It seems like Netflix has been interested in working with anyone and has landed almost everyone through the years, but, director David Cronenberg says this is not the case for him and they reject him quite often.

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“I’m pretty sure we did talk to Amazon and Netflix for this, and it was not a project they wanted to do. And I think my feeling is I really was very interested in the whole Netflix streaming phenomenon, definitely. But I think that they’re very conservative. I mean, I think they’re still like a Hollywood studio. I thought maybe they would be different. I think when it comes to their actual production that they do themselves, they’re very conservative. I think they think in mainstream terms, that’s my experience.”

The man behind The Fly and A History of Violence comments on the platform in an article published by Variety today around his new Crimes of the Future film. The piece takes place in a world where surgery is the new sex and self-mutilation of the kind Cronenberg has captured in his earlier works is commonplace and artistic. Cronenberg also says he almost made a series with Netflix, but it just wasn’t meant to be.

“We got to two episodes, and then they decided not to do it. I was disappointed because I was interested in streaming in cinematic terms. I thought that would be a very interesting experience for me as a writer, as a creator, and then also as a director. And maybe I’ll have that experience one day, but at the moment, it’s still on movie making, not filmmaking. So, the project that I was talking to Netflix about, it will be feature film instead.”

Crimes of the Future releases May 25.


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Evan J. Pretzer
A freelance writer with We Got This Covered for more than a year, Evan has been writing professionally since 2017. His interests include television, film and gaming and previous articles have been filed at Screen Rant and Canada's National Post. Evan also has a master's degree from The American University in journalism and public affairs.