Fans of virtual band Gorillaz have had a disappointing update from Damon Albarn, who confirmed that the long-in-development animated movie in the works at Netflix has been permanently canceled. It is no secret that Netflix have been hacking away at their many spinning plates in the last several months, with shows being abruptly ended and some completed projects also hitting the chopping block. Among those, it seems, was the animated movie that fans of Albarn’s cartoon music group had been awaiting for some time.
While discussing the group’s upcoming album, Albarn told HUMO:
"The new record came out because [co-creator] Jamie [Hewlett} and I were often in Los Angeles. We were working on a Gorillaz feature film, which will never happen.”
Asked to elaborate on whether he meant that the movie was on hold or actually canceled, the singer added:
“Yes. That is to say, and without naming names because the whole matter has not yet been settled: the streaming platform for which we were making the film has withdrawn. They started to panic because they were making too much content and decided to cut back on their movie offerings. And, as has been classic Hollywood practice for decades, the guy we were working with has moved on to another company... Hollywood is quite territorial: if a new guy comes along, he must and will have a different opinion, even if he secretly agrees with his predecessor."
The film was originally moving ahead and in production as of 2021, which seems to signal that the cancelation has been a recent one. It is of course just one of many projects to have been dropped by Netflix as they looked cut some of the project with high production costs and potentially low viewership. While the Gorillaz movie was not given the chance get as far as seeing what its audience numbers were like, and that is obviously a disappointment for everyone involved and all of those who had been expecting to see the movie arrive sometime this year.
Netflix’s Cancelation Choices Have Brought Much Criticism From Subscribers
While there is usually a solid business reason for any streamer deciding to cancel a show or movie, the thought process behind the decision is rarely of any interest to those who have invested themselves into something only to find that the rug is pulled from under them at the last moment and they will never get to see how it all ends.
In the case of the Gorillaz movie, at least it was not treat in the same way as some other Netflix projects that were recently canceled after they had been completed. Last month it was reported that The Inheritance and House/Wife has both been dropped by the streamer despite being ready to release at the time. Instead, the projects were sold back to their respective studios to be shopped around at other streamers. Although there could be a point where this kind of cancelation becomes a thing of the past, for now, we seem only days away from the next shock axing.