The Unmade Sci-Fi Series That Landed Netflix In Load Of Unwanted Trouble
In 2013, filmmaker Carl Erik Rinsch made a minor ripple with his FX-laden Keanu Reeves vehicle "47 Ronin." The actual story of the 47 Ronin comes from an incident in actual Japanese history in 1703, but has since been adapted thousands of times — often under the name of the Chushingura — becoming one of the most famous stories in Japanese history. Rinsch's film, however, added monsters and dragons to the story, transforming it into a typical fantasy blockbuster rather than a proper historical epic. "47 Ronin" only made $151 million worldwide on a reported $175 million budget.
It was enough, however, for Rinsch and his wife, Gabriela Rosés Bentancor, to court Netflix about their dream project, a sci-fi TV series called "Conquest." In 2018, when streaming services were booming in earnest and the Streaming Wars were getting into full swing, Rinsch felt the time was right to pitch his new idea. According to a new report in the New York Times, "Conquest" was to take place in a future world where humanity had created a species of artificially intelligent robots called the Organic Intellect, constructed to help the Earth with its many humanitarian crises.
Rinsch and Rosés were able to secure enough funding for several short episodes of "Conquest" that would serve as, essentially, a demo reel for Netflix. They needed to ask Reeves for additional funding to complete this reel. With their shorts completed, Rinsch and Rosés were given $61.2 million to complete the show. Rinsch was able to start shooting right away.
According to the Times, however, "Conquest" quickly began to fall apart, largely because Rinsch himself was behaving erratically on set and taking buckets of drugs.
Things got worse from there.
The bidding war
Netflix would ultimately regret their funding of the project, which is ironic, given that they snatched "Conquest" out of the hands of Amazon when they were on the brink of signing Rinsch. Amazon, it seems, avoided a headache Netflix inherited. Rinsch was given $55 million of the $61.2 million deal, as well as complete creative control of the project, a rarity in Hollywood. Rinsch, however, became weirdly crazed during production. As the Times reported, Rinsch began claiming he knew where COVID-19 had come from and would rave about other wild conspiracy theories. He wrote in an e-mail about "the coronavirus signal emanating from within the earth." He also claimed he could predict where lightning was going to strike, and that airplanes were intelligent machines that were greeting him. Clearly, Rinsch was suffering some kind of breakdown.
In addition to his strange behavior, Rinsch actively plundered Netflix's millions, using the bulk of it on personal items that had nothing to do with production for several years. He used a lot of the money to buy stock and invest in the cryptocurrency market, reportedly making 23 million dollars in Dogecoin. This wasn't exactly what they had in mind for an ambitious and expensive sci-fi epic. When the production was running low on cash, Rinsch asked for $11 million more, which Netflix gave. Rinsch put the whole of that advance into his personal brokerage account and lost nearly $6 million within weeks. Evidently, he also purchased five Rolls Royces, a Ferrari, and a lot of expensive suits and furniture. Netflix was known at the time for its lavish budgets and open spending, but this was ridiculous.
Rinsch, it should be noted, didn't finish a single episode of "Conquest."
The Netflix budget dance
Netflix, of course, had become used to overspending with shows like their ultra-hit "Stranger Things" and were getting into the prestige market that would ultimately put out some excellent Oscar bait films like "Roma," "The Irishman," and "The Power of the Dog." But "Conquest" was not poised to earn prestige, especially as Rinsch became greedier and more unbalanced as the days passed.
The film unit in São Paulo where "Conquest" was filming, complained that Rinsch would frequently scream at the crew in an abusive way. It was also reported in the Times that Rinsch had begun taking methamphetamines and a drug called lisdexamfetamine dimesylate which, when used to excess, can inspire paranoiac behavior. Eventually, Rinsch's wife, brother, and several other people close to him were called in to stage an intervention.
Rinsch didn't enter into "Conquest" with the best reputation either. Evidently, while he was filming the above-mentioned demo reel, one of his actresses was taken to the hospital where she was diagnosed with hypothermia. It seems Rinsch filmed her with bare legs on a very cold day. Things were wrong from the start. Rinsch, it seems, didn't become any more humbled by the larger production, and continued his bad habits, compounded by drug use.
Rosés, it should be noted, filed for divorce from Rinsch in 2020, and a lot of the reports of his erratic behavior come from her divorce filings. When he was asked to go into rehab, using the aid of a health consultant, Rosés said Rinsch flew into a rage, accusing people of plotting his assassination.
It was bad.
Ignoring red flags
Netflix, it seemed, ignored a lot of the warning signs. The New York Times notes that there had been complaints about Rinsch before, and everyone seemed totally content to ignore the fact that "47 Ronin" was considered a bomb for Universal. In the aforementioned divorce papers, Rinsch was also said to have a wall-punching temper. Never mind. He received millions anyway. As stated, he gambled it all away.
In March of 2021, Netflix, seeing the writing on the wall, cut "Conquest" free from their funding, knowing that Rinsch had blown a lot of their cash and wouldn't be able to reliably deliver anything he had promised. He was told he could try selling his property to another production company, but that he was no longer in the Netflix business. The divorce was becoming worse and his gambling continued with the remaining funds he had. It was during this time that he began making all the weird car and clothing purchases. When Rinsch finally accepted that Netflix was severing ties ... he sued them for breach of contract. At last count, Rinsch figured Netflix still owed him $14 million.
In 2023, Rinsch took to his Instagram account to defend himself in a now-deleted post. He claimed that the Times article wanted to "discuss the fact that I somehow lost my mind ... (Spoiler alert) ... I did not."
The case is still open as of this writing, but seeing as Rinsch never completed a full episode of "Conquest," it sounds like he will not win the case. Netflix has become notorious for overspending, but "Conquest" was clearly the most expensive show they never made.