Netflix’s Franchise Crisis: After Losing Harry Potter, the Streaming Giant Is Desperately Hunting for the Next Big Universe

Netflix remains the undisputed king of streaming by subscriber count and global reach. But when it comes to valuable, long-lasting intellectual property, the company still finds itself playing catch-up with legacy studios.

The latest high-profile miss came in early 2026 when Netflix failed to secure the rights to the Harry Potter franchise in its negotiations with Warner Bros. Discovery. The company had also been eyeing Game of Thrones. Both deals fell through, leaving a significant hole in Netflix’s long-term content strategy — especially as flagship originals like Stranger Things and Squid Game approach their conclusions.

The IP Problem

Netflix’s Franchise Crisis: After Losing Harry Potter, the Streaming Giant Is Desperately Hunting for the Next Big Universe Unlike Disney, Warner Bros., or Paramount, Netflix was built on licensed content and original productions rather than decades-old libraries. While this gave the company agility in its early years, it has created a structural weakness: Netflix lacks the evergreen franchises that generate reliable revenue for years through sequels, spin-offs, merchandise, and theme parks.

Attempts to fix this have been expensive and often disappointing:

The $700 million deal to acquire Roald Dahl’s works has produced some solid children’s content but failed to create a breakout cinematic universe.
Big-budget originals like The Electric State — despite star power and visual spectacle — crashed and burned at launch.

Right now, Shonda Rhimes and the Bridgerton universe are doing much of the heavy lifting, delivering consistent global hits and cultural moments. But one major franchise, no matter how successful, is not enough for a platform of Netflix’s scale.

The New Bets

Netflix is now aggressively pursuing new tentpole franchises.

Two projects stand out:

K-Pop Demon Hunters — a high-concept animated musical action film blending K-pop with supernatural battles. It’s positioned as a potential multi-media franchise with music, spin-off series, and global appeal.
The Chronicles of Narnia — with Greta Gerwig (Barbie, Little Women) attached to direct at least one film. Given Gerwig’s proven ability to turn beloved IP into cultural events, this is widely seen as Netflix’s strongest current shot at building something lasting.

The Bigger Challenge

Netflix’s Franchise Crisis: After Losing Harry Potter, the Streaming Giant Is Desperately Hunting for the Next Big Universe Creating a true franchise is incredibly difficult. It requires not just one hit, but a world rich enough to support multiple stories, characters, and formats over a decade or more.

Netflix excels at making glossy, algorithm-friendly blockbusters, but building deep, emotionally resonant universes has proven much harder.

As one industry executive put it: “Netflix is great at baking hot pies. The problem is they need orchards.”

With Stranger Things ending and several other tentpoles winding down, the pressure is mounting. The company’s massive content budget gives it firepower, but money alone cannot buy the cultural stickiness and audience loyalty that great franchises generate.

Whether Narnia, K-Pop Demon Hunters, or future acquisitions can fill the void left by Harry Potter remains to be seen. For now, Netflix is in an all-out sprint to turn its library from a collection of hits into a true empire of interconnected worlds.

The streaming wars have entered a new phase — and this time, it’s all about who owns the next great universe.