Netflix’s Original Film Output in Q1 of 2026 Is at an 8-Year Low

Netflix might be upping their subscription fees, but the number of Netflix Original Films is plummeting.

According to French newsletter Netflix & Chiffres (via What’s On Netflix), the number of Netflix Original Films in Q1 have dropped precipitously. (The series output has remained steady.)

In Q1 2022, for example, there were 50 Netflix Original Films that debuted on the platform. In the years since, they have decreased substantially – 39 in the first quarter of 2023, 35 in the same time frame in 2024 and 34 in Q1 2025. And this year? Netflix released just 23 Netflix Original Films.

The only timeframe that was quieter was Q1 in 2017, which saw just 13 new movies.

According to the accumulated data, only four of the Netflix Original Films came from the United States or Canada in Q1, with six from Europe and nine from the Asia-Pacific region.

Much of this has to do with the way that Netflix releases their original films, with a great accumulation in the summer and fall periods. This year, for example, the fall corridor will see the release of such highly anticipated productions as Greta Gerwig’s Daniel Craig-led “Narnia,” Brad Bird’s animated sci-fi film “Ray Gunn” and David Fincher’s “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood” follow-up, with Brad Pitt reprising his Oscar-winning role as deadly stuntman Cliff Booth.

There are also a number of films that the streamer will pick up from global film festivals and will likely release towards the end of the year.

This week will see one of the first big Netflix Original Films of the year, “Thrash,” which started life as a big Sony summer movie before it was sold off to Netflix (in the same way that “KPop Demon Hunters” started life as a Sony theatrical offering). Later this month sees the release of “Apex,” a survival thriller with Charlize Theron, with additional, undated Netflix Original Films on the horizon like “Enola Holmes 3” with Millie Bobby Brown reprising the title role; heist movie “Here Comes the Flood” with Denzel Washington and Robert Pattison; and the Robert De Niro-led thriller “The Whisper Man” from AGBO.

But there is also the fact that the great streaming contraction is very much underway, with fewer television series and way fewer movies being produced for and by the streamers. In 2020, when we were all stuck inside, direct-to-consumer channels weren’t just appreciated, they were essential. Now that we are back to a mostly normal lifestyle, they are more frivolous, particularly with the rising costs of the subscription services.

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