Fans were devastated when Paramount Pictures dropped the film adaptation of Antoine de Saint-Exupery’s The Little Prince just a week before its U.S. release. Now, those same fans can breathe easy: Netflix has swooped in and secured the rights to the film.
According to The Verge, Netflix has secured North American streaming rights to The Little Prince. Combined with Paramount’s decision to not release the film in theaters, that likely means that Netflix will premiere the film itself.
Why was the film dropped in the first place? Nobody seems to know. There’s nothing wrong with the movie itself: it’s completely finished, features big-name stars, and already debuted at the Cannes Film Festival to fairly positive reviews. None of that stopped Paramount from abruptly dropping the film just a few days before its U.S. release. At the time, director Mark Osborne posted the following series of Tweets:
It’s now clear that the “other distributor” Osborne referred to is Netflix. The movie was originally supposed to premiere on March 18. That date came and went before news broke of Netflix’s acquisition. It’s still not clear when the film will be made available to stream on Netflix.
The Little Prince uses a combination of stop-motion and computer animation. Its star-studded cast includes Marion Cottilard, Jeff Bridges, Paul Rudd, Rachel McAdams, Benicio Del Toro, and James Franco, among others.
Are you happy to watch the film on Netflix, or would you have preferred the theatrical experience?