‘Stranger Things’ Star Ditches Oscar-Bait Biopic
Netflix shelved the film just as quickly.
Mario Anzuoni/REUTERS
Netflix’s Oscar-bait Olympics drama, Perfect, received zeroes across the board from its lead, Millie Bobbie Brown.
The Stranger Things star departed the project on Friday, according to Deadline, with sources citing creative differences between Brown, 22, and the production team.
Brown’s departure, weeks after the film’s original director, Gia Coppola, left the project, prompted Netflix to scrap it entirely.
Brown exited the film due to creative differences with the production team.
Hamad I Mohammed/REUTERS
In Perfect, Brown was cast to play 1996 U.S. Olympic “Magnificent Seven” gymnast Kerri Strug, whose last-ditch vault gave the Americans the gold medal over Russia’s team.
Despite injuring her ankle in the previous attempt, Strug, who was just 18 at the time, earned a near-perfect score on her final attempt, clinching gold.
Strug's heroics clinched the gold medal for the U.S. Olympic gymnastic team, dubbed the "Magnificent Seven."
George Long/IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect
Strug collapsed to the ground as soon as she stuck the landing on one leg. Her coach, Bela Karolyi, carried the emotional Strug off the mat, creating one of the most memorable scenes in Olympic history.
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The young gymnast’s heroics became a pop culture sensation, inspiring a Saturday Night Live sketch, numerous talk show appearances, and the “Magnificent Seven” immortalized on a Wheaties box.
Strug won the gold medal for her team despite a devastating ankle injury in her first attempt.
Mike Blake/REUTERS
Brown’s exit is a blow for Netflix. Through her decade-long breakout role on Stranger Things, which she began at 12, she has become one of the streamer’s most bankable stars. The show’s final season, released in December, is one of the streamer’s top 10 most-viewed television seasons of all time, and even netted Netflix an additional $20–25 million through its simultaneous theatrical release.
Despite the less-than-glamorous exit, Brown is continuing to work with the streamer. The third installment in her Enola Holmes franchise is set to premiere this summer, and she just wrapped production for Just Picture It, a Netflix original rom-com.
Netflix is also developing a film adaptation of Brown’s debut historical novel, Nineteen Steps, though she will not star in it, instead serving as a producer.
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