James R | On 02, May 2022

Netflix has cancelled Pearl, a new animated series created by Meghan Markle, as the streamer looks to rebalance its books after an unsteady start to the year.

The streaming giant saw its numbers of subscribers fall for the first time in 10 years in the first three months of 2022, with its net total of customers falling by 200,000. In the second quarter of the year, Netflix forecasts that its subscribers will fall again by 2 million.

In response, the company has been making a number of cutbacks to try and steady the ship, with both Raising Dion and Space Force cancelled after two seasons. Kids animated series have been given the axe as well, including Dino Daycare and Boons and Curses. Now, Meghan Markle’s new series has been cancelled too.

The series, which was produced by Markle and Prince Harry’s Archewell Productions, was to be one of the first projects in a planned partnership between the royal couple and Netflix. It was announced last year and was set to follow a 12-year-old girl who finds inspiration in influential women throughout history. The project was still in development, but now will not be reaching the screen via Netflix, although Deadline reports that other projects from Archewell in the works at Netflix – including documentary series Heart of Invictus – may well still go ahead.

The move comes as Netflix appears to be reevaluating its immense investment in producing titles, once touting its plan to release a new original film every week. Amid fears of losing its library and appeal, as other companies started to take back their third party titles for their own streaming platforms, Netflix is now facing the fear of having too much content. You can read more in-depth about how Netflix’s model has grown and possibly been its own undoing here.

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