Netflix is shifting strategy away from big-budget action flicks and big-name stars. Here's its new plan.

Mark Wahlberg as detective Spenser in “Spenser Confidential.” Netflix

• Dan Lin, Netflix’s new film chief, wants to diversify its movie offerings.
• The move follows criticism of Netflix’s focus on big-budget films.
• Lin’s plan involves prioritizing in-house producers and skipping theatrical releases.

Tired of seeing the same action movie on Netflix over and over? Netflix knows, and they’re working on it.

High-octane action films backed by big-name casts have dominated Netflix in recent years. Dan Lin, the company’s new film chief, now wants to change that, according to The New York Times.

It might have something to do with Mark Wahlberg.

In 2020, Netflix paid Wahlberg a whopping $30 million to star in “Spenser Confidential,” which clocks in at 24 on the highest-paid film roles of all time. Critics panned the action thriller, an adaptation of Robert P. Barker’s 2013 novel “Wonderland.” It scored a dismal 36% on Rotten Tomatoes despite the hefty investment.

Netflix appears to want to learn from that lesson.

Netflix’s previous film chief, Scott Stuber, left the company in January following clashes with bosses over what kinds of films to produce.

Before Stuber’s exit, Netflix Chief Content Officer Bela Bajaria met with the company’s film department, where she said film quality needed to improve, according to the Times. In the meeting, Bajaria told staff that the company was moving in a new direction and to consider leaving if they were not on board, according to the outlet.

Lin is now tasked with producing a wider variety of films, which the company thinks can be done at a lower budget, to connect better with the site’s audience, the Times reported. One of his first moves was putting an end to massive upfront paychecks for actors.

Lin quickly went to work reorganizing the company’s film department, laying off 15 of its 150 film department staff, and reorganizing the department by budget rather than genre, according to the outlet. Lin also “indicated that Netflix is no longer only the home of expensive action flicks featuring big movie stars.”

The company is now emphasizing its own producers, who it expects to become “more aggressive” at developing their own concepts instead of waiting for other producers to bring in big deals, the Times reported.

Netflix did not immediately return a request for comment from Business Insider on Sunday.

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