Netflix announces ‘Frankenstein’, ‘Knives Out’, ‘Squid Game 3’ as part of 2025 international slate

Mumbai, Jan 30 (PTI) Streaming platform Netflix on Friday unveiled its international films and series slate, including “Frankenstein” by Academy Award-winning filmmaker Guillermo del Toro, crime thriller “Rip” with Ben Affleck and Matt Damon and the much-anticipated third season of “Squid Game”.

Some of the other titles are Rian Johnson’s next “Knives Out” film “Wake Up Dead Man”, which will bring back Daniel Craig as famous sleuth Benoit Blanc, as well as filmmaker Noah Baumbach’s “Jay Kelly” with George Clooney.

The event at the Egyptian Theatre in Los Angeles included special guests WWE superstars CM Punk and Rhea Ripley as well as prominent Hollywood names like del Toro, Affleck, John Mulaney, Tina Fey and the Duffer Brothers. It was simultaneously live-streamed across 12 countries. 

“No matter what you’re looking forward to this year, there’s no way to be completely ready for what’s next on Netflix,” Bela Bajaria, Netflix’s Chief Content Officer, said at the company’s annual showcase of films, series and games in 2025. 

“With more than 700 million people watching, we can’t just be one thing. We need to be the best version of everything,” Bajaria said.

Based on Mary Shelley’s 1818 novel of the same title, del Toro’s “Frankenstein ” features Oscar Isaac, Jacob Elordi and Mia Goth.

“Over the decades, the character has fused with my soul in a way that it has become an autobiography. It doesn’t get more personal than this,” said Guillermo del Toro, who has been wanting to make this project for 50 years, in a video message.

The streamer has revealed that “The Old Guard 2” is set to premiere on July 2. The film marks the return of Charlize Theron as Andy of Scythia, the immortal mercenary, who confronts a powerful new adversary.

In addition, Oscar-winning director Kathryn Bigelow’s untitled Netflix film is scheduled for a release later this year.

While plot details are being kept under wraps, the star-studded cast includes Idris Elba, Rebecca Ferguson, Gabriel Basso, Jared Harris, Tracy Letts, Anthony Ramos, Jonah Hauer-King, Moses Ingram, Greta Lee, and Jason Clarke.

New comedies include “The Four Seasons”, a fresh adaptation of the 1981 film originally written by Alan Alda, now helmed by Tina Fey.

She said they were able to “assemble a cast of beloved comedy actors that could create the same warm, human vibe of the original”.

Lena Dunham has inked a creative partnership with Netflix for the upcoming scripted debut with Netflix, with “Too Much”.

Netflix and Tyler Perry announced two new projects: a new film, “Madea’s Destination Wedding”, and a new comedy series, “She The People”.

In addition to this, Perry also has part two of the hit drama series “Beauty in Black”, which is set to return on March 6, the drama feature “Straw”, and the faith-based feature “R&B”. The streaming platform also released first-look images from these projects.

Netflix is also bringing fan-favourite titles, including “Stranger Things”, “Wednesday” and “Squid Game”.

Bajaria revealed that season two of Jenna Ortega-led “Wednesday” recently wrapped production and will come out later this year. 

She also announced that the final season of “Squid Game” will debut on June 27.

Talking about the final season of “Stranger Things”, co-creator Ross Duffer said, “This is our biggest and most ambitious season yet.”

Added his brother, Matt, “At the same time, we think it’s our most personal story. It was super intense and emotional to film — for us and our actors.”

The Duffer Brothers also talked about two new shows they are executive producing in 2026 — “The Boroughs” and “Something Very Bad is Going to Happen”.

“We’re going to be hanging around at Netflix, which has been our home for the past 10 years,” Ross said. “We couldn’t ask for better partners. If you want to tell original stories like we do, this is the place to be.”

On the documentary front, Netflix announced projects like “Air Force Elite”, “Chaos: The Manson Murders”, “Eddie”, “Pangolin: Kulu’s Journey”, “Titan”, “American Manhunt: Osama Bin Laden”, “Gone Girls”, and “Katrina: Come Hell and High Water”.

A new weekly one-of-a-kind late-night show, “Everybody’s Live with John Mulaney”, will premiere live on March 12.

“We will be live globally with no delay. We will never be relevant. We will never be your source for news. We will always be reckless,” Mulaney said.