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Skip to contentSkip to site index Search & Section Navigation Section Navigation SEARCH Save 50% on CookingLog in Business|The Strange $55 Million Saga of a Netflix Series You’ll Never See https://www.nytimes.com/2023/11/22/business/carl-rinsch-netflix-conquest.html * Share full article * * * 243 Shooting a scene in “Conquest,” a sci-fi series that the director Carl Erik Rinsch sold to Netflix.Credit...Santiago Cerini THE STRANGE $55 MILLION SAGA OF A NETFLIX SERIES YOU’LL NEVER SEE After suitors flocked to a sci-fi project by Carl Rinsch, director of a single movie, the winner handed over money and control. They’re still fighting. Shooting a scene in “Conquest,” a sci-fi series that the director Carl Erik Rinsch sold to Netflix.Credit...Santiago Cerini Supported by SKIP ADVERTISEMENT * Share full article * * * 243 * Read in app By John Carreyrou * Nov. 22, 2023 Leer en español Near the height of the streaming boom in the fall of 2018, a half-dozen studios and video platforms lined up to woo a little-known filmmaker named Carl Erik Rinsch. He had directed only one movie, “47 Ronin.” It was a commercial and critical dud, and Mr. Rinsch’s tussles with its producers had raised eyebrows, even in an industry where such conflicts are the norm. But memories in Hollywood are short, and the demand for new content was intense. In just a decade, the number of scripted TV shows had soared from 200 to more than 500, with new streaming services from Disney, Apple and NBCUniversal on the way. Amid the feeding frenzy, the project that Mr. Rinsch was pitching — a science-fiction series about artificial humans — became a hot property. After a competitive auction, Mr. Rinsch and his representatives reached an informal eight-figure agreement with Amazon. But before they had a chance to put it in writing, Netflix swooped in. Cindy Holland, the company’s vice president of original content at the time, called Mr. Rinsch at home on a Sunday and dangled millions of dollars more, as well as something studios rarely gave directors: final cut. Netflix won the deal — and would soon come to regret it. The project with Mr. Rinsch has turned into a costly fiasco, a microcosm of the era of profligate spending that Hollywood studios now are scrambling to end. Netflix burned more than $55 million on Mr. Rinsch’s show and gave him near-total budgetary and creative latitude but never received a single finished episode. Subscribe to The Times to read as many articles as you like. A correction was made on Nov. 22, 2023 : An earlier version of this article misstated the status of Carl Erik Rinsch’s series when Netflix bought the rights to it. There was a script, but it was not complete. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- When we learn of a mistake, we acknowledge it with a correction. If you spot an error, please let us know at nytnews@nytimes.com.Learn more John Carreyrou is an investigative reporter on the Business desk. He is the author of the bestselling book, “Bad Blood: Secrets and Lies in a Silicon Valley Startup,” about Elizabeth Holmes and Theranos. More about John Carreyrou A version of this article appears in print on Nov. 26, 2023, Section BU, Page 1 of the New York edition with the headline: $55 Million for a Series, but Not a Single Episode. Order Reprints | Today’s Paper | Subscribe Read 243 Comments * Share full article * * * 243 * Read in app Advertisement SKIP ADVERTISEMENT COMMENTS 243 The Strange $55 Million Saga of a Netflix Series You’ll Never SeeSkip to Comments The comments section is closed. To submit a letter to the editor for publication, write to letters@nytimes.com. SITE INDEX SITE INFORMATION NAVIGATION * © 2023 The New York Times Company * NYTCo * Contact Us * Accessibility * Work with us * Advertise * T Brand Studio * Your Ad Choices * Privacy Policy * Terms of Service * Terms of Sale * Site Map * Canada * International * Help * Subscriptions Support independent journalism with a subscription. Already a subscriber? Log in. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Enjoy unlimited access to all of The Times. Includes news, games, recipes and more. Welcome offer $6.25 $1/week Billed as $4 every 4 weeks for your first 6 months. Cancel or pause anytime. 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