Netflix Buys Michael Peña & Lizzy Caplan Sci-Fi Thriller Extinction

Netflix has just bought the rights to the movie Extinction, a science fiction thriller starring Michael Peña and Lizzy Caplan. This is the latest Hollywood movie purchase for Netflix, amidst a string of similar high-profile acquisitions.


In Extinction, Peña is plagued by nightmares of losing his family. Those nightmares become a reality when a destructive force invades Earth, intent on presumably total destruction. Lizzy Caplan will play his wife, as they fight for their lives and discover some hidden strength to keep them safe. In addition to Caplan and Peña, Mike Colter (Luke Cage himself), Emma Booth, Israel Broussard, Tom Riley, and Lilly Aspell will also appear in the film. Extinction is directed by Ben Young and written by Brad Kane, Spencer Cohen, and Eric Heisserer.


This film was originally scheduled for release with Universal, until Universal pulled Extinction from its release slate two months ago to “explore other options.” Netflix confirmed the purchase with Variety merely four days after the now-infamous Cloverfield Paradox marketing stunt, where they unveiled the first footage of the film during the Super Bowl and released it on the same night. In addition to Cloverfield and Extinction, Netflix also has the streaming rights to Paramount’s Annihilation only seventeen days after its U.S. theatrical release.


While high-profile Netflix original movies and TV shows are nothing new, the purchase of high-profile titles before a theatrical release date is fairly new territory with the streaming service. Their biggest grab to date is arguably that of director Martin Scorsese’s The Irishman, which is still due to begin streaming through Netflix towards the end of this year.


Despite being fairly new to the purchase of titles like The Irishman, Annihilation or even Extinction, Netflix is not necessarily unfamiliar with botched marketing gimmicks. When Netflix announced Cloverfield Paradox during the Super Bowl, it took everyone by surprise. However, once people began to stream Cloverfield, there was an overwhelming amount of disappointment with what many considered squandered potential with the film. While it was probably the wisest possible move for J.J. Abrams and everyone over at Bad Robot to avoid any box office losses, it is a rather disappointing result of some incredibly brave marketing strategies. The film isn’t a total bomb, but it left a lot to be desired in the canon of the Cloverfield universe.


Hopefully, Extinction will prove to be a step in the right direction for Netflix after The Cloverfield Paradox, much like the presumed to be successful acquisitions of Annihilation and The Irishman.