Music – 12 hours ago

Photo Credit: Gorillaz (Twitter)

Netflix has officially cancelled the previously-announced Gorillaz movie, as the company is purging their animation division.

The previously-announced Gorillaz film has been cancelled due to recent issues within Netflix divisions. In a recent interview with Belgian publication HUMO, the animated group’s co-creator and artist, Damon Albarn, discussed that the film has been impacted in the onslaught of Netflix changes.

“The new record [Cracker Island] came about because Jamie [Hewlett] and I were often in Los Angeles,” Albarn said, translated from Dutch via Stereogum. We were working on a Gorillaz feature film, which will never happen.”

The interviewer went on to ask if the film has been “permanately suspended,” which Albarn confirmed.

“That is to say, and without naming names because the whole matter has not yet been settled: the streaming platform for which we were making the film has withdrawn. They started to panic because they were making too much content and decided to cut back on their movie offerings.”

He continued, “And, as has been classic Hollywood practice for decades, the guy we were working with has moved on to another company. From then on you have lost your guardian angel, and there seems to be a bad smell hanging on you. Hollywood is quite territorial: if a new guy comes along, he must and will have a different opinion, even if he secretly agrees with his predecessor.”

It’s possible that the film may find a new home on a different streamer, but this week, Albarn is prepping the band’s eighth album, Cracker Island, due to release on February 24. The four-person animated group will also perform Coachella in April.