Netflix is scouring the earth for the next big franchise, and the desperation is showing. After losing the Harry Potter universe to Max—the streaming equivalent of watching your ex marry your rich neighbor—the streaming giant is reportedly pursuing everything from established literary properties to obscure comic book series.
Reuters reports that Netflix executives are actively seeking multi-generational IP that can spawn series, films, games, and merchandise. In other words, they want what J.K. Rowling built, except they want to pay considerably less for it.
The irony is spectacular. Netflix spent its first decade disrupting traditional entertainment by ignoring franchises and greenlighting weird originals. Stranger Things? Original. The Crown? Original. Orange Is the New Black? Original. They built an empire on telling Hollywood that franchises were dinosaurs.
Now they're hunting franchises like a Wall Street trader chasing the next crypto pump. What changed? Simple: sustainability. You can't build a subscriber base on shows you cancel after two seasons. People notice. People get annoyed. People unsubscribe.
Franchises offer something Netflix's algorithm-driven originals don't: loyalty. Harry Potter fans are Harry Potter fans forever. They'll subscribe to whatever service has Harry Potter content. They'll watch spin-offs, prequels, documentaries about the making-of documentaries. That's the dream—captive audiences who can't leave.
But here's the problem: all the good franchises are taken. Star Wars? Disney+. Lord of the Rings? Prime Video already spent a billion dollars on it. Marvel? Disney+, obviously. DC? Max. Even Star Trek has a home on Paramount+.
Netflix is shopping in the clearance section, hoping to find a diamond among the direct-to-video adaptations. They might get lucky—IP is unpredictable, and sometimes unknown properties explode. But more likely, they'll overpay for C-tier franchises that never gain traction.
The company that revolutionized entertainment by ignoring the rules is now learning those rules exist for a reason. Franchises work because they've already proven they work. You can't manufacture that with focus groups and spending.
Meanwhile, Max is over there with Harry Potter, Game of Thrones, DC, and Warner Bros.' entire film library. Must be nice.
Netflix still has Stranger Things—for now. But that show is ending, and nothing in their development pipeline has the same cultural footprint. They need their Potter. They need it badly. And every studio in Hollywood knows it, which means they'll pay through the nose for anything halfway decent.
In Hollywood, nobody knows anything—except that franchises are king, and Netflix showed up to the coronation without an invitation.
