Occasionally, you come across a story that is so outlandish, that it's hard to believe its validity, even when Hollywood is involved.
For example, Carl Erik Rinsch's divorce procedures have disclosed some bizarre financial practices that occurred during the 47 Ronin director's production of a high-concept sci-fi series dubbed Conquest for Netflix.
The series was said to be inspired by Rinsch's 2010 short film, The Gift, a project that first put him on the map. To develop the concept, Netflix gave Rinsch $55 million dollars in 2018, for a 13-episode first season. In a highly competitive auction, Netflix swooped in to outbid Amazon, Hulu, HBO, Apple, and YouTube for the series.
However, the cast and crew said that Rinsch's behavior became increasingly unpredictable during the series' shoot.
Financial records revealed during Rinsch's divorce procedures suggest that he lost about $11 million of the show's production budget on bad stock market trades. He then invested an additional $4 million in Dogecoin during the cryptocurrency's boom, turning it into about $30 million. However, he then spent a large portion of his fortune on sports vehicles (including a fleet of five Rolls Royces and a Ferrari), fashionable apparel, and furniture.
Rinsch's initial investment in the stock market of $11 million and the $4 million he used to fund his cryptocurrency windfall remain unaccounted for on Netflix's end as Rinsch never returned the money. It's bizarre that Risch didn't use $15 million of the $30 million he made off Dogecoin to pay back the streamer.
You can check out The Gift below. It's easy to see why Amazon, Netflix, and others were aggressively bidding on the project. Conquest was reportedly a high sci-fi concept series, " about a genius who invents a humanlike species called the Organic Intelligent. The O.I. are deployed to trouble spots around the globe to provide humanitarian aid, but humans eventually discover their true nature and turn against them. Mr. Rinsch called the show "White Horse," a reference to the first horseman of the apocalypse."
Amazon had a handshake agreement in place to get the project's rights when Netflix made a last-minute bid that was reportedly twice what Amazon was willing to pay. The streamer was said to be convinced that they had the next Stranger Things in their possession.
The project began shooting in various international locales including São Paulo, Brazil, Montevideo, Uruguay, and in Budapest. However, amid reports of a trouble production and Rinsch's erratic behavior, it seems the director told Netflix that he was having trouble deciding between a shooting schedule that aligned with the show's original 13-episode order or one that would require 26 episodes to complete - essentially requiring a second season to be greenlit.
During divorce proceedings, Rinsch's estranged wife, Gabriela Rosés Bentancor, produced text messages from him in which the director claimed to be able to predict lightning strikes and volcano eruptions, indicating that the stress of the production and the ongoing coronavirus outbreak were affecting his mental state.
In March 2021, Netflix informed Rinsch that they would no longer be moving forward with Conquest. Rinsch and Netflix are now embroiled in a bitter court struggle over who owes the other $14 million. This month, the matter was heard before an arbitrator, and a decision is expected soon.