Prince Harry and Meghan Markle have “one last chance” with Netflix after their massive Spotify deal collapsed.
The couple, who fled to Hollywood after they left the Royal Family in 2020, have seen their popularity decline in recent months, and reports claim they’re “scrambling” to save their careers with a “sink or swim” moment with streaming giant Netflix as news broke of their decision to purchase the rights to Meet Me at the Lake.
It’s been reported that the couple are working with Netflix to bring Carley Fortune’s best-selling rom-com to life, leaving the author stunned at the news. “Writing this book was a tremendous personal challenge, and to see it recognised in this way is truly incredible,” she said.
This adaptation was also confirmed by Penguin Random House, the company that published Prince Harry’s hugely successful memoir Spare, and a rep for the publishing house suggested there were “similarities” between Harry and Meghan’s lives and that of the book’s main protagonists.
After the couple’s $20 million deal with Spotify fell through, they’re now desperate to save their Hollywood careers, and the Meet Me at the Lake adaptation will be the latest project with the streaming giant, following last year’s docuseries Harry & Meghan which was met with average reviews.
PR expert Mark Borkowski told the Telegraph that the former royals have to work hard to prove they can enable the project to succeed as they’ve got minimal experience of producing movies. “They have zero track record in drama or producing anything of consequence,” he added.
Mark also called the couple’s decision to adapt Meet Me at the Lake as a “playbook” attempt to revive their careers, but it’ll be difficult to win the public over as they “are so far off the radar. I suspect there is more to this than meets the eye.” He also suggested Penguin Random House “probably enabled” the deal, and Netflix also stumped up the cash for the upcoming project through the couple’s Archewell Productions.
Prince Harry has another Netflix project set to be released soon, as a trailer for Harry’s Heart of Invictus documentary was released on Wednesday. The project, which focuses on the upcoming Invictus Games in Germany next month, heavily features the prince in the teaser, as he discussed the importance of family.
“If your goal was to make your country proud, you’ve done it. If your goal was to make your family happy, you’ve achieved it,” he said in the trailer. “You are people of substance, of resilience, of strength. You have the Heart of Invictus.”
In other news – Iranian filmmaker faces prison after showing movie at Cannes
An Iranian filmmaker and his producer reportedly face prison time and being barred from filmmaking after they showcased a movie at the Cannes Film Festival without government approval, drawing immediate criticism internationally from leading American director Martin Scorsese and others.
Director Saeed Roustayi and producer Javad Norouzbeigi traveled to Cannes last year to show “Leila’s Brothers,” competing for the festival’s grand Palme d’Or prize. The film focuses on a family struggling to make ends meet as Iran faces international sanctions and includes sequences showing protests in the Islamic Republic as a series of nationwide demonstrations shook the nation. Read More
