Netflix recently shocked audiences by canceling the nearly completed, Halle Berry-led sci-fi film The Mothership, a move that the streamer’s CCO says was rare, but necessary.
Speaking during Netflix’s 2024 film, TV, and game slate press conference on Wednesday (via Deadline), Netflix CCO Bela Bajaria was asked about The Mothership. She described the situation as “a rare thing” and also hinted at some issues behind-the-scenes that may have led to the decision.
“It is very rare,” Bajaria said. “If you think about how many things we make, it’s a rare thing.”
Bajaria said that there were “lots of production issues” on the film, and also seemed to hint that those involved with the movie also thought it should be shelved, saying “everybody on both sides, the talent and us all, just agreed that it was better to not launch it.”
“It’s hard to go, ‘Are there lessons in that?’ It happens so rarely,” said Bajaria. “And you have to remember there are 100, 150 people that come together, and alchemy and chemistry, and it’s a creative endeavor, and everything doesn’t turn out how we want it to be.
“And on that one, there was just a lot of issues during production and stuff, creatively, so everybody just felt like it was the right thing to not do it and do something else together eventually.”
What was The Mothership about?
“One year after her husband mysteriously vanishes from their rural farm, single mother Sara Morse and her children discover a strange, extraterrestrial object underneath their home, which leads them to embark on a race to find their husband, father, and most importantly – the truth,” the synopsis for The Mothership reads.
Director Matt Charman, who previously co-wrote 2015’s Bridge of Spies with the Coen Brothers, wrote and directed The Mothership. Fred Berger and Brian Kavanaugh-Jones served as producers.
Berry is still working with Netflix on The Union, a new thriller directed by Julian Farino that co-stars Mark Wahlberg, J.K. Simmons, and Jackie Earle Haley. The Union does not yet have a release date.
