Netflix's newest project, "The Electric State," has emerged as the streaming giant's costliest movie ever made with an astronomical budget of $320 million. Made by the Russo brothers, who directed "Avengers: Endgame" and several other films, the movie features the cream of the industry in the form of Millie Bobby Brown and Chris Pratt. With its A-list cast and hefty budget, however, the movie has encountered numerous failures, from early studio rejection to poor box office showings.
"The Electric State" is an adaptation of Simon Stålenhag's 2018 illustrated novel and takes place in a retro-futuristic America of the 1990s, where a teenage girl sets out to find her missing brother with the help of a robot. The Russo brothers purchased the rights in 2018 with the aim of developing a large-scale adaptation. Nonetheless, the increasing budget of the project caused Universal Pictures, which was originally attached to distribute the film, to drop out in 2022.
Netflix saw the opportunity, greenlighting the project with a reported budget of $320 million, more than the production budgets of big blockbusters such as "Avatar" ($237 million) and "The Avengers" ($220 million). "The Electric State" was received fairly negatively when it came out.
The film was panned for having a poor script, lackluster acting, and failure to do justice to the source material. The film currently has a 14% critics' rating on Rotten Tomatoes.The New York Post berated the movie for being non-original and lacking emotional connection, saying that the movie failed to provide a great story despite the massive budget.
Also, Vulture branded it a "$320 million piece of junk," noting that the movie's heavy-handed style eclipsed what would have otherwise been an interesting premise. The response of the audience also echoed that of the critics. During its debut weekend, "The Electric State" received just 25.2 million views internationally, a number deemed disappointing in light of both the budget and marketing efforts put into the film.This is a soft show in comparison to other Netflix action films like "The Gray Man," which although garnering similar mixed critiques, pulled in more viewers on opening night. The disappointing performance of the film has caused speculation about Netflix's strategy in spending heavily on blockbuster-style content.
While the platform has been successful with critically acclaimed titles like "The Irishman" and "Roma," its attempts at producing traditional Hollywood-style blockbusters have generally resulted in disappointing efforts. Critics argue that these high-budget productions are not as rich or compelling as successful theatrical releases, and that an overemphasis on content creation could be at the expense of quality storytelling.
"The Electric State" is a cautionary story for streaming services stepping into high-stakes productions. The crossover of the massive budget, negative reception, and disinterest of viewers with "The Electric State" mirrors the problems faced by ambitious productions with reconciling great visions with strong storylines and well-crafted characters. With Netflix constantly reshaping its content game, how the world reacted to "The Electric State" can push them into a review of resources in determining how best to ensure critical acclaim while getting audience buy-in.
