Netflix is on a buying spree at the moment, as it looks to bolster its original movie slate with movies of quality and diverse genres. It has bought two high profile movies back to back — the first is the Millie Bobby Brown (Stranger Things) starrer ‘Enola Holmes’, while the other is ‘The Starling’, headlined by Melissa McCarthy.
Enola Holmes, produced by Legendary Entertainment, is based on Nancy Springer’s Edgar Award-nominated six-book series, The Enola Holmes Mysteries. The movie is directed by Emmy, BAFTA and Golden Globe-winner Harry Bradbeer (Fleabag, Killing Eve), and written by BAFTA and Tony Award winner Jack Thorne (Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, The Aeronauts). Besides Millie Bobby Brown, the movie stars two-time Oscar nominee Helena Bonham Carter (The Crown, The King’s Speech, Harry Potter films), Henry Cavill (Mission: Impossible – Fallout, Man of Steel, The Witcher) and Sam Claflin (The Hunger Games Trilogy, Me Before You), along with Adeel Akhtar (The Big Sick, Les Miserables) and Fiona Shaw (Killing Eve, Harry Potter films), among others.
The movie is centred on Sherlock and Mycroft Holmes’ rebellious teen sister Enola, who is a gifted super-sleuth in her own right and often outsmarts her brilliant siblings. When her mother disappears on Enola’s sixteenth birthday, Enola embarks on a mission to find her, getting caught in the middle of a conspiracy that could alter the course of political history. Enola Holmes puts a dynamic new female twist on the world’s greatest detective and his brilliant family.
Netflix has also won the global rights to ‘The Starling’, through an auction. The dramedy is directed by Ted Melfi, and stars Melissa McCarthy, Kevin Kline, Timothy Olyphant, Chris O’Dowd and Daveed Diggs, besides Skyler Gisondo, Loretta Devine, Laura Harrier, Rosalind Chao and Kimberly Quinn.
The Starling is written by Matt Harris. It follows a married couple, Jack and Lilly, that suffers a hardship. Jack (O’Dowd) heads off to deal with his grief while Lilly (McCarthy) remains behind to deal with her grief in her own way, by taking to gardening in her back yard garden. But she soon finds that a big-sized starling has nested in her backyard, which begins to harass and attack her. The starling becomes a symbol of all her problems and she becomes comically obsessed with killing it. Lilly seeks help from a quirky psychologist-turned-veterinarian, Larry (Kline), with a troubled past of his own. The two form an unlikely friendship, each deriving support from the other.
Netflix has reportedly shelled out $20 million to acquire The Starling. The movie is currently in post-production.
No release timeline has been announced by Netflix for either of the two movies.
We’re hiring!
We are hiring two full-time junior to mid-level writers with the option to work remotely. You need to work a 5-hour shift and be available to write. Interested candidates should email their sample articles to [email protected]. Applications without a sample article will not be considered.
