It's been three years since Netflix acquired the rights to Jeff Smith's 11x Eisner Award winning graphic novel series, and announced with much excitement that an animated adaptation was in the works. Now, the streaming giant has announced that Bone is one of among several casualties as the company looks to staunch the bleeding of their ever decreasing subscribor numbers.
Earlier this week, it was announced that Phil Rynda would be exiting his role as Netflix's Director of Creative Leadership and Development for Original Animation. Leaving with him is said to be "Several" of his staff members as Netflix reports to have lost over 200,000 subscribers in the last quarter alone. The hits keep coming as the announcement of this loss subsequently lead to a 30% drop in stock value.
Once the premiere (and only) streaming service on the market, and leading the charge of streaming services jumping into the original content game, Netflix's fall from grace is nothing short of tragic. Reports from inside the organization claim that Netflix has turned from a place of “talent and creativity” to a mess of “corporate pressure, mixed messages and accusations of ‘staged data.’”
Smith's seminal work is regrettably not the only project to have be placed on the chopping block, as several other high profile projects are said to be facing either sweeping change or flat out termination. Among the projects in question was a planned adaptation of Roald Dahl’s The Twits (which may now see release as a feature film) and Lauren Faust's Toil and Trouble.
There is no word as of yet how the changes might effect existing Netflix animated projects like The Dragon Prince (a 4th season is currently in the works) or DOTA: Dragon's Blood (which has not yet received a S3 renewal confirmation despite strong pandemic numbers)