UPDATED 2/1, 10:20 p.m. ET: Netflix chief content officer Bela Bajaria discussed the cancellation of the nearly completed Halle Berry-led film The Mothership during the company's 2024 film, TV and game slate press conference Wednesday night.
According to Deadline, Bajaria said cancellations are "a rare thing" for the streamer. "It is very rare," she said. "If you think about how many things we make, it's a rare thing."
Deadline reported that the decision to axe The Mothership received the support of the production company MRC and producers Automatik. Bajaria explained that the film encountered "a lot of issues during production," which sparked a collective agreement to shut it down.
"It's hard to go, 'Are there lessons in that?' It happens so rarely," Bajaria said. "And you have to remember there are 100, 150 people that come together, and alchemy and chemistry, and it's a creative endeavor, and everything doesn't turn out how we want it to be."
She continued, "And on that one, there was just a lot of issues during production and stuff, creatively, so everybody just felt like it was the right thing to not do it and do something else together eventually."
Netflix remains in the Halle Berry business with The Union, a flick starring Mark Wahlberg, which is slated for Aug. 16. The streamer also has a film deal with Berry.
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Netflix disappointed subscribers by reportedly shelving the release of long-delayed Halle Berry sci-fi film, The Mothership.
The news surfaced from film critic Jeff Sneider on his website, The InSneider—and confirmed by The Hollywood Reporter —revealing that Netflix decided not to move forward with The Mothership, although it was originally slated for a 2023 release. Directed by Matt Charman, cast in the film were Molly Parker, Omari Hardwick, Sydney Lemmon, John Ortiz and Paul Guilfoyle.
According to Sneider, The Mothership needed to have "significant reshoots" which would have been costly for the streamer, which have been arduous, as child actors in main roles have grown up significantly since filming roughly two years ago. Sneider also noted lengthy post-production delays that prevented the film's intended debut.
The move was also similar to the planned Warner Bros. film Batgirl, which was shelved despite its $90 million budget and having wrapped up filming.
Here was the synopsis for The Mothership: "A sci-fi adventure that follows Sara Morse (Halle Berry) one year since her husband mysteriously vanished from their rural farm. When she discovers a strange, extraterrestrial object underneath their home, Sara and her kids embark on a race to find their husband, father and most importantly—the truth."
Berry's still moving ahead with upcoming action-thriller The Union and Maude v. Maude, an action film where she'll star opposite Angelina Jolie.
