Here is some not so good news on the Gorillaz Netflix deal. The dream of a full-length Gorillaz cinematic experience has been the "holy grail" for fans of the world’s most famous virtual band. While the characters—2-D, Murdoc Niccals, Noodle, and Russel Hobbs—have existed in high-concept music videos and short-form content for over two decades, a cohesive narrative film has remained frustratingly out of reach.
Gorillaz's Damon Albarn and Jamie Hewlett had planed for a Gorillaz project at Netflix to begin in 2020, though the idea of a Gorillaz feature film had been a goal for the creators for over 20 years. In 2020, Damon Albarn revealed that the band had a deal with Netflix to produce a feature-length animated movie. This announcement sparked a wave of global excitement, as it seemed the streaming giant's massive budget and penchant for experimental animation would finally provide the perfect home for Jamie Hewlett’s distinct visual style.
In 2021 and 2022, the project appeared to be moving forward. Albarn dropped hints during various interviews, mentioning that script sessions were taking place in Malibu and expressing his enthusiasm for the story they were crafting. For a time, it felt as though the years of "development hell" that had plagued previous film attempts, such as the aborted early-2000s project Celebrity Harvest, were finally over. The Netflix partnership represented a modern era for the band, one where their deep lore and satirical social commentary could be explored with the depth and runtime that a three-minute music video simply could not afford.
However, everything came to a grinding halt in early 2023. The collapse of the project was not due to creative differences between the band and the studio, but rather, Netflix underwent a massive internal restructuring following a period of financial cooling, leading to what many in the industry called an "animation purge." High-profile projects were suddenly cancelled as the platform sought to cut costs and pivot its strategy. For Gorillaz, this meant the loss of their primary advocate within the company.
Albarn and Hewlett eventually made the difficult decision to walk away from the deal. They realized that waiting for Netflix to find a replacement executive and restart the development process would likely result in years of wasted time.
Speaking in 2025 about their failed Netflix show, Albarn noted that instead of dwelling on the loss, the duo channeled their creative energy back into their primary medium: music. Much of the thematic groundwork and visual world-building intended for the film was repurposed for their 2023 album, Cracker Island, and their more recent 2026 project, The Mountain.
In a new interview with Zane Lowe for Apple Music, Hewlett explained why the idea of a movie is no longer appealing, admitting, “If we’d done a movie 25 years ago, fine but the idea of doing a movie now it just doesn’t have no interest in it whatsoever. No interest.”
Albarn also added: "I just felt like I was hanging around for what seemed an eternity,” prompting Hewlett to say, “So we made an album while we were waiting basically".
While fans may never see the specific feature film that was envisioned during those Malibu writing sessions, the band’s resilience has ensured that the "spirit" of the project lives on through their latest audio-visual releases.
