During Netflix’s recent investor video for its first-quarter financial results, the streamer’s Co-CEO and Chief Content Officer Ted Sarandos has confirmed that three of their biggest series along two of their high-profile movies are all set to return in the fourth quarter of this year. This includes the highly-anticipated new seasons of the Henry Cavill-led fantasy drama The Witcher, the hit Karate Kid spinoff Cobra Kai, and the psychological thriller You. Both productions of The Witcher Season 2 and You Season 3 were affected by the ongoing pandemic last year. That’s why their original release dates were ultimately delayed.
Netflix’s upcoming action films, such as Red Notice starring Dwayne Johnson, Ryan Reynolds and Gal Gadot, and Chris Hemsworth’s Escape From Spiderhead are also expected to make their debuts later this year. Red Notice was originally set for a 2020 release but was delayed to the production delays caused by the pandemic.
“What happened in the first part of this year was that a lot of the projects that we’d hoped to come out earlier did get pushed because of the post-production delays and Covid delays,” Sarandos revealed (via Deadline). “And we think we’ll get back to a much steadier state in the back half of the year, certainly in Q4 where we have the returning seasons of some of our most popular shows like The Witcher and You and Cobra Kai as well as some big tentpole movies that came to market a little slower than we’d hoped like Red Notice and Escape From Spiderhead.”
The Witcher
- Jodie Turner-Smith Exits Leading Role in Netflix’s The Witcher Prequel
- Behind the Scenes Featurette of The Witcher Season 2
- Laurence O’Fuarain Will Lead the Cast of The Witcher: Blood Origin
- The Witcher Season 2 Synopsis & New Photos Teases Ciri’s Training
Based on the best-selling fantasy series, The Witcher is an epic tale of fate and family. Geralt of Rivia, a solitary monster hunter, struggles to find his place in a world where people often prove more wicked than beasts. But when destiny hurtles him toward a powerful sorceress and a young princess with a dangerous secret, the three must learn to navigate the increasingly volatile Continent together.
Earlier this month, production on the long-awaited second season of The Witcher was finally completed after 158 days of filming. The production previously endured a number of delays, including some members of the crew testing positive for COVID-19 and Henry Cavill sustaining an on-set minor leg injury.
RELATED: 5 Steve Guttenberg Movies That Deserve the Cobra Kai Treatment
In Cobra Kai, Ralph Macchio and William Zabka revisit their star-making roles from the iconic film franchise, The Karate Kid. The epic adversaries return to the dojo, thirty years after the events of the 1984 All Valley Karate Tournament. A down-and-out Johnny Lawrence (Zabka) seeks redemption by reopening the infamous Cobra Kai karate dojo, reigniting his rivalry with a now-successful Daniel LaRusso (Macchio), who has been struggling to maintain balance in his life without the guidance of his mentor, Mr. Miyagi.
Due to the first two seasons’ successful Netflix debut last year, the martial arts dramedy series was able to secure an early season renewal just before the third season was released in January. Production on the upcoming fourth season began last March.
RELATED: Netflix 2021 Film Preview: First Look at Red Notice, Don’t Look Up & More
Red Notice is described as a globe-trotting, action-comedy heist thriller designed as a three-hander between Dwayne Johnson, Gal Gadot, and Ryan Reynolds. In the film, Johnson plays an Interpol agent tasked with capturing the most wanted art thief in the world. “Red Notice” refers to the highest and most serious of Interpol notices (there are eight) and concerns the arrest of wanted criminals. Meanwhile, Gal Gadot is to portray the role of the world’s greatest art thief, with Ryan Reynolds playing the world’s greatest con-man.
