PARIS, March 11— Netflix has enlisted an A-list roster of actors for a new slate of film and TV series this year, with several potential blockbusters on deck as the US giant battles to retain its lead in the fiercely competitive streaming market.
An armada of more than 80 films including widely anticipated works from star directors is planned for 2022, accelerating the firm’s push into exclusive content production, executives announced at a Paris press conference Thursday.
Overseas productions that have often proved to have global appeal haven’t been forgotten, with 25 releases set for France for example and already 20 more in production. Overall Netflix is investing €200 million in the French audiovisual industry this year, of which around €40 million to produce 10 films that will also be released in cinemas.In January, Netflix reported net profit of US$607 million for the fourth quarter on revenue of US$7.7 billion, and warned that subscriber growth was likely to slow again in the coming months.
The company said it had a total of 221.8 million subscribers, a number that failed to meet analyst expectations. — AFP