Netflix Cancels Patton Oswalt’s Martial Arts Drama
Netflix has canceled the upcoming Patton Oswalt movie Absolute Dominion.
Netflix has become one of the top places in the world for original movies and tv series covering many topics from many countries, from American blockbusters like Red Notice, Enola Holmes, and Stranger Things, to foreign hits like Squid Game. With that kind of clout in the industry, there is a myriad of creators, writers, and actors that make it a point to get on the streamer and get their face in front of the nearly 250 million subscribers worldwide. Of course, it doesn’t always work; according to Variety, Netflix has dropped the new film led by Patton Oswalt, Absolute Dominion.
The film had previously landed Jason Blum and his Blumhouse company to produce and also starred Bill & Ted actor Alex Winter and Désiré Mia. There is no word yet as to the reasons the producer and the streaming service pulled out of the project since it was greenlit and principal photography began in the Spring in the Nevada desert.
Netflix very well could have sighted scheduling conflicts with Patton Oswalt as the reason they decided to pull out of the project considering the actor has over 40 projects with acting credit since 2020. He has been well known in the industry for his affinity for everything nerdy, including a long list of comic book-inspired projects ranging from DC projects like Justice League Action and Teen Titans Go! To the Movies to appearances in Marvel projects like Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D and M.O.D.O.K.
Despite his penchant for lighthearted comedy. He has also been featured in more serious projects like Manhunt, surrounding the search for John Wilkes Booth, and his most recent comic book project, The Sandman.
The streaming service may have had the opposite problem with Alex Winter as it did with Patton Oswalt. The actor is undoubtedly best known as the Bill portion of the ultimate historical/time-traveling epic, 1989’s Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure, which also starred a young Keanu Reeves.
While the film was received well enough to spark a sequel a few years later, seeing the duo of wannabe rock and roll gods going to Hell and another sequel years following their daughters, the film never got higher than cult classic status, and Winter fell off into obscurity. He has, however, spent more time lately as a director of documentaries, something that he has picked up in the last decade or so, notching nine of them since 2013.
One aspect of Absolute Dominion that Netflix had an even better bet with than Patton Oswalt is Jason Blum and his Blumhouse Productions. The company has become one of the go-to horror film houses in the industry, being behind the Insidious, The Purge, and Paranormal Activity franchises and responsible for the three newest Halloween films.
This year alone, Blumhouse has seen Black Phone, Firestarter, and Halloween Ends hit the theaters. While Absolute Dominion may have been sitting pretty with Netflix and Blumhouse in their corner, the post-apocalyptic martial arts film will need to keep searching for new producers and new distributors.
