New Year New Netflix: Netflix experiments with original releases, new movie selection

The world’s oldest and most well-known video streaming service, Netflix, has promised to release a new movie every week for the year 2021 in an attempt to not only entertain viewers but to stay one step ahead of other big streaming companies. 

Netflix began releasing original movies in 2015 and this year they plan on creating 70 original films to please viewers during the COVID-19 pandemic — more than Disney+ and Warner Brothers are planning to release this year combined. 

These movies range from horror, sci-fi, comedy, musicals, romance, westerns and there will even be movie trilogies created for Netflix favorites: “To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before” and “The Kissing Booth.”

After gaining 36.6 million new paying subscribers in the year 2020, Netflix has spared no expense to bring the best actors and actresses into their 2021 lineup. 

Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson, Ryan Reynolds, Meryl Streep, Leonardo DiCaprio, Aranda Grande and Jennifer Lawrence are just a few names that are expected to appear in upcoming original Netflix projects. 

There is also a large bill of directors and film writers — old and new — contributing to the 70 movie lineup.

They range from big shots, or I should say big shorts, like Adam McKay who wrote and directed movies such as “Vice” and “The Big Short” to first-time film writers and directors Lin-Manuel Miranda and Halle Berry.

But creating new viewing content isn’t the only project that Netflix has been working on for 2021. By July this year, Netflix will be introducing the roulette feature. 

Still in development, the roulette feature will provide viewers an option to click on a button that will randomly generate something for you to watch based on your profile. 

“Our members can basically indicate to us that they want to skip browsing entirely, click one button, and we'll pick a title for them just to instantly play,” Chief Product Officer and COO of Netflix, Greg Peters, said in an interview with CBR. 

The name for this new feature has yet to be set in stone but Peters assured that after many jokes and rumors being tossed around by Netflix staff, the feature will not be named “I’m Feeling Lucky” in reference to the button of the same name that Google uses on its home page. 

For a full list of original movies coming to Netflix this year, visit, “Netflix’s Massive 2021 Film Slate” and start creating your watch list.