Prince Harry and Meghan Markle have “no original ideas,” according to a top Hollywood executive.
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex have been warned of a “make or break year” after having signed a handful of lucrative deals in 2023 that have seemingly caused the ongoing royal rift to widen.
And according to one senior studio exec, the Sussexes now find themselves “walking a financial tightrope” as a result, especially if they are looking to boost their Archewell production company.
Slamming the couple’s “alarming lack of original content,” a top Hollywood honcho told the Express, “Until they fully figure out what they want to do — and what they’re actually good at — they could find themselves walking a financial tightrope simply to survive.”
Harry and Meghan now have just one project left as part of their lucrative $100 million Netflix deal, signed back in 2020.
The five-year deal is up for renewal in 2025.
The couple had purchased the screen rights to the popular romantic new release “Meet Me at the Lake,” by Carley Fortune, to turn it into a film for Netflix.
They handed over $3.8 million in exchange for the rights, and it’ll be their first non-documentary venture.
“What immediately worries me is the alarming lack of any other original content on their roster,” a source told the Express about the upcoming project.
“Netflix bought the book they are adapting but the question everyone in Hollywood is asking is: Can they actually pull this off without either of them having any real prior experience?”
“This is a make-or-break year for them in every sense. Either their company turns this project into a success or they could face a financial nightmare if Netflix pulls the plug on a new contract with them in 2025,” the insider added.
“Given their very limited success so far, you would have to realistically ask if they would be prepared to walk away from it altogether if, say, Meghan were to launch herself as a powerful internet influencer with a worldwide following and a huge revenue stream,” another source told the outlet.
As for a rumored return to Hollywood, Markle signed with William Morris Endeavor (WME) CEO Ari Emanuel and his team in April and has recently teased several “exciting” projects she’s got in the works.
But it’s been reported that the agency is having second thoughts following the furor that unfolded over Omid Scobie’s explosive tell-all biography, “Endgame: Inside the Royal Family and the Monarchy’s Fight for Survival.”