Netflix Cancels $10 Million-an-Episode 'The Boroughs' as Duffer Brothers Shift to Paramount
Updated
Updated · Hollywood Reporter · Jun 18
Netflix Cancels $10 Million-an-Episode 'The Boroughs' as Duffer Brothers Shift to Paramount
3 articles · Updated · Hollywood Reporter · Jun 18
Summary
June 15 cast-option deadlines effectively killed 'The Boroughs' when Netflix declined to extend them, ending the sci-fi series less than a month after launch.
About $10 million per episode—or materially more, one source said—made the show hard to justify because Netflix weighs viewership directly against cost.
5.6 million views in its first four days and 9.5 million in its first full week put the show on Netflix's charts, but it later fell to 3.7 million and then 2 million.
Sources told THR the Duffer Brothers' four-year move to Paramount strained relations with senior Netflix executives, though sources close to Netflix and the Duffers said the cancellation was a business decision and ties remain good.
Netflix owns 100% of the series, making a rescue by another buyer highly unlikely despite a 97% Rotten Tomatoes score and a No. 2 Nielsen debut-week ranking.