By Dawn Chmielewski and Lisa Richwine LOS ANGELES, April 2 (Reuters) - After losing its bid for Warner Bros Discovery’s rich trove of characters and stories, Netflix is forging ahead with the
Netflix searches for franchises after losing out on Harry Potter
Netflix's Ongoing Quest for Franchise Success
(Corrects paragraph 19 to show Sony Pictures Animation produced KPop Demon Hunters)
By Dawn Chmielewski and Lisa Richwine
Challenges in Building a Franchise Empire
LOS ANGELES, April 2 (Reuters) - After losing its bid for Warner Bros Discovery’s rich trove of characters and stories, Netflix is forging ahead with the challenging work of building culture-defining franchises on its own.
Chief Creative Officer Bela Bajaria said Netflix would keep investing in original ideas, and partner with established studios like MGM and Warner Bros, to try and produce movies and series that live on for years, in the vein of “Stranger Things,” “Wednesday” and “Bridgerton.”
“To me, that's just continually the goal,” Bajaria said in an interview.
Comparing Netflix to Hollywood Giants
Yet the failed attempt to buy Warner Bros' storied movie studio and HBO highlighted a vulnerability for the relative Hollywood upstart, whose catalog of original films and series spans around a dozen years, compared with more than a century's worth of stories and characters for Warner Bros, Walt Disney and Universal Pictures. Netflix was willing to make its biggest bet ever with $72 billion to shore up its library and augment its intellectual property with Harry Potter and “Game of Thrones,” because creating franchises has proven challenging.
Interviews with 16 current and former Netflix executives, industry leaders and agents illustrate a picture of the streaming giant whose strategy of making something for everyone, and serving many audiences all at once, is different from crafting a Taylor Sheridan-like universe of “Yellowstone” spin-offs that brings a built-in audience.
Success Stories and Notable Franchises
Even so, Netflix's own prolific showrunner, Shonda Rhimes, has successfully adapted Julia Quinn's "Bridgerton" novels into a series that's entering its fifth season, a spinoff and a touring event set in the Regency-era London, dubbed "The Queen's Ball."
Franchises can be valuable for entertainment companies, because they are lower-risk investments that can bring in ancillary revenue through merchandise sales and in-person experiences. Recognizable characters and stories also stand out in a fragmented media landscape, grabbing a viewer's attention in a time of myriad distractions.
Netflix announced its first major acquisition, the comic book publisher Millarworld, a day before Disney told investors in August 2017 that it would pull its movies from the streaming service to create a rival, later dubbed Disney+.
“Stranger Things” has been an unqualified success, producing a spin-off series, a stage play, and merchandise. Netflix points to other examples, such as the action-adventure film "Extraction," starring Chris Hemsworth, that led to a sequel and a third installment in production, as well as a series starring acclaimed French actor Omar Sy. Its long-running dating show "Love Is Blind" has been remade for multiple global audiences, including versions centered in Brazil, France and Japan.
Obstacles and Flops Along the Way
There have been pricey flops along the way to building its own franchises, like the reported $700 million deal to acquire rights to Roald Dahl’s catalog, which includes such beloved children’s stories as “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.” The investment has yet to produce a major hit in five years -- though Netflix will try again this year. It plans a Willy Wonka-inspired reality show called “Golden Ticket" in which competitors try to survive games and temptations on a set with a chocolate river.
Financial and Competitive Pressures
Producing consistent hits that spawn new series helps to attract and retain subscribers and increase engagement, which grew by only 2% in the second half of 2025, according to media consultant Owl & Co. Top-line growth has been slowing, with revenue expected to grow 13% this year, according to data from LSEG, compared to 16% in 2025, and its advertising sales represent only 3% of the total. YouTube’s ascendancy poses a competitive threat. YouTube and Disney, with its vault of iconic characters, have consistently beaten Netflix in share of television viewing since October 2024, according to Nielsen's media distributor gauge, which measures broadcast and cable television viewing and streaming.
Complicating matters, Paramount Skydance is acquiring Warner Bros, which could reduce the number of suppliers of original shows.
Netflix's Future Strategies and High-Stakes Bets
Armed with a $2.8 billion windfall from the failed Warner Bros deal, Netflix Co-CEOs Ted Sarandos and Greg Peters will continue to go it alone. Its coming releases include time-tested characters and stories, including a live-action “Scooby-Doo” series and a “Narnia” movie based on the C.S. Lewis books and directed by Greta Gerwig.
Lessons from Recent Failures
“The Electric State” offers one example of an expensive failure that illustrates the inherent risks in attempting to launch a sprawling Marvel-like cinematic universe.
Netflix snagged Joe and Anthony Russo, the brothers behind the smashing success of Walt Disney’s Avengers movies and Netflix's own "Extraction," to adapt the critically acclaimed science-fiction novel, and cast “Stranger Things” star Millie Bobby Brown alongside Hollywood A-lister Chris Pratt as stars.
Critics savaged the $320 million film when it was released last year. Plans to more fully exploit the film -- including a possible spin-off series and sequels -- never materialized, according to two sources directly involved with the project who requested anonymity to protect their industry relationships.
“A lot of people have big movies that also are IP that don't work,” said Netflix's Bajaria. "We're in the film and TV business, so a lot of things work, a lot of things don't work."
Global Hits and Surprising Successes
Other gambles -- such as Netflix's decision to greenlight "Squid Game," a dystopian thriller from creator Hwang Dong-hyuk that others had passed on -- paid off handsomely, creating a global juggernaut.
With the sheer volume of content, Netflix also has its share of surprises, lik
