David Cronenberg Says he Approached Netflix for Crimes of the Future: ‘They’re Still Very Conservative’

Crimes of the Future director David Cronenberg sat down for an interview with Variety to discuss streaming services, predominantly Netflix. The writer/director/actor/book author talked about the challenges of financing a movie, even when you’re a director with a cult following and A-list cast. If you’re making an independent film without access to Netflix’s money, it can be a struggle.

“I’m pretty sure we did talk to Amazon and Netflix for [Crimes of the Future], and it was not a project they wanted to do. And I think my feeling is I really was very interested in the whole Netflix streaming phenomenon, definitely. But I think that they’re still very conservative. I mean, I think they’re still like a Hollywood studio. I thought maybe they would be different.”

According to Cronenberg, Netflix is still very conservative regarding the content they produce themselves. Sure, they will call an interesting streaming series from Korea or Finland a Netflix original, but it’s not really because it’s something that they have acquired. Cronenberg also talked about the freedom that independent distributors or financiers are willing to give you to be more experimental. Cronenberg thinks that’s because they have to offer you something that Netflix can’t offer you.

“And that is what freedom is what they’re offering. In a way, that was true with the Hollywood studios. Mostly, they were very conservative mainstream. I think things haven’t changed as much as people thought they would. Netflix has certainly affected the movie industry and the exhibition industry with cinemas. I think cinemas are dying, frankly. I think there will be cinemas, but there won’t be so many of them, and they will be showing niche films because otherwise, they’ll just be showing Marvel superhero movies.”

David Cronenberg Tried Other Projects With Netflix

A series that Cronenberg was working on for the streaming site never materialized because, as it turns out, it is not easy to get a series with Netflix.

“I tried and we got to two episodes, and then they decided not to do it. And I was disappointed because I was interested in streaming in cinematic terms. I thought that would be a very interesting experience for me as a writer, as a creator, and then also as a director. And maybe I’ll have that experience one day, but at the moment, it’s still on movie making, not filmmaking. So the project that I was talking to Netflix about, it will be a feature film instead.”

The project that has morphed from series to film will expand upon Cronenberg’s book Consumed. While he doesn’t have a screenplay yet, Cronenberg will be writing it himself. However, that will come after The Shrouds. In the meantime, Crimes of the Future is set to premiere in competition at Cannes. Neon will release Crimes of the Future in U.S. theaters on June 3.

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