That Netflix wants to look into the eyes of majors of Hollywood is no secret. His latest film, ‘The Invisible Agent’, for which he has just released a spectacular trailer, not only uses his powerful cast and crew as a commercial hook. Also its budget of 200 million dollars is being aired to make it clear that Netflix does not skimp on means to put itself in parallel with any other production company.
An unprecedented budget (on Netflix). Although there are no official figures, there is talk of more than 200 million dollars. ‘red alert’, his blockbuster More recently, it also had a budget hovering around that figure, but ‘The Invisible Agent’ is said to exceed it. Below are equally ambitious productions such as ‘The Adam Project’ (110 million) or ‘6 in the shadow’ (150 million)
The Russos affirm in Deadline that “the intention is for it to be competitive with any film for the cinema”, and the truth is that the film has a visual finish, evident in the trailer, that leaves behind films with clear franchise thematic ambitions, such as ‘The old guard’ or ‘Power Project’ that could not get rid of their television movie airs (both with budgets of less than 100 million). But it is that even ‘The Adam Project’ or ‘Red Alert’, despite their star casts, had an aesthetic worthy of TV-Movie: either the digital vices, or the limited number of scenarios, or the special effects not quite polished, or the lack of general ambition, but something was wrong.
Perhaps only ‘6 in the shadows’ is comparable to the new Netflix movie in terms of spectacularity and visually “cinematic” finish (considering only the trailer for ‘The invisible agent’, of course), possibly due to two reasons. First, the budget of ‘6 in the shadow’ itself, of 150 million dollars, is quite generous. Second, that you give Michael Bay a tricycle and two firecrackers and he puts together an action sequence better than any of Marvel.
Speaking of Marvel. The mirror in which Netflix is looking at itself is obvious: the largest producer of blockbusters of the moment. And ‘The Invisible Agent’ is not a superhero movie, but it has many elements that are reminiscent of Marvel movies. To begin with, of course, the Russo brothers as directors, responsible for some of the company’s biggest hits: ‘Captain America: The Winter Soldier’, ‘Captain America: Civil War’, ‘Avengers: Infinity War’ and ‘Avengers :Endgame’.
They are accompanied by a couple of regular screenwriters for the duo: Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely, who have also written all the Russos’ films at Marvel (and a few more, such as ‘Captain America: The First Avenger’, ‘Thor : The Dark World’ or the ‘Agent Carter’ series). And, of course, in the cast, Chris Evans, the genuine Captain America, as the villain. The objective is clear: to replicate the successes of Marvel, and also with a starting point with the intention of franchising: Mark Greaney’s best-selling series.
And finally, that magic figure: 200 million dollars is the budget that most Marvel movies also manage, at least those of the post-‘Endgame’ batch. Netflix is also using that yardstick of the average outlay of a blockbuster of success to finance (and promote) this ambitious commitment.
The latest cartridges. The existence of this film and the clear ambition of Netflix to participate in the game of majors makes sense. There has been talk of a hypothetical growth ceiling for a platform that cannot gain weight indefinitely and that, with its recent drop in subscribers (and what awaits it, according to its own calculations), has to find new ways to extend its tentacles beyond of its nuclear business streaming.
For this reason, it made sense for Netflix to take some first steps in this section with films like ‘Roma’ or ‘The Irishman’, without the vocation of blockbustersbut rather aimed at gaining fame as a producer really. Now that, with his good arsenal of Oscars, he has the rigor certificate, he can dedicate himself to amassing money with films that may not yet have the visual finish of a traditional cinematographic success – ‘Red Alert’ did not seem quite a movie for the cinema – but they are clearly going in that direction.
To predict the future of the platform, not only do you have to look at its great and confirmed successes, such as ‘Stranger Things’, but also at proposals that are a bit out of the ordinary on Netflix. Even if it’s just for the effort and money invested, ‘The invisible agent’ is an interesting swerve in the platform’s usual strategy. It remains to be seen how far it takes her.
