Meghan Markle and Prince Harry's ‘Meet Me at the Lake' movie still has no director or cast

News.com.au

25-07-2025

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's remaining Netflix projects may be on ice as their exclusive multimillion-dollar deal comes to an end.
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex announced back in August 2023 that they were producing a film adaptation of Carley Fortune's hit romance novel, Meet Me at the Lake for the streamer.
But Page Six reports Archewell productions has yet to hire a director or come anywhere close to picking a cast.
Netflix is believed to have paid out around $US3 million for the rights to the book for the duo to produce, though it's understood little has been done to get the project moving.
'By this point, you would have thought they would have got a director on board and a cast. So what is the delay?' asked a Hollywood source.
'And when you make something for Netflix, it takes a long time for it to actually hit the streamer — there is so much to do in post production, to make sure it's ready for every country. If the deal is up this year, then when is this film going to be made?'
The couple were also working on a documentary set in Africa — albeit without Harry, 40, or Markle, 43, appearing. This, too, may be on the back burner.
'What's the betting that neither of these projects will see the light of day?' said a source in the know.
It was revealed this week the Sussexes' Netflix deal will end this year, and the couple may move to a first-look contract, like President Barack Obama and his wife Michelle's production company, Higher Ground, has. This week, sources were quick to tell us, however, that there will be more TV shows from the renegade royals.
We have reached out to Sussex reps.
Netflix has also been working with Markle on her As Ever range which includes her rosé wine, jams, tea and honey. Her show, With Love, Meghan, will return for season 2 in September, so that production partnership doesn't seem to be going anywhere.
The Netflix cash has been reported to be $100 million, although it's believed to be closer to $20 million. It was, indeed, a big chunk of the Sussexes' fortune.
So far, their biggest Netflix success has been Harry & Meghan, which debuted in December 2022 with 81.55 million hours viewed — making it the highest viewed documentary premiere for the streaming platform.
'Let's be honest … Netflix got what they really wanted out of the Sussexes — their documentary,' said the source in the know.
Meanwhile, the docu-series Polo, which was released last December and executive-produced by Harry and Markle, was watched by 500,000 viewers and ranked at 3,436 on the Netflix ratings chart.
Last week, the streamer announced that Markle's lifestyle show, With Love, Meghan, was at No. 383 in its semi-annual report, 'What We Watched', with a total of 5.3 million views since its March 4 debut.
It was even beaten by re-runs of Markle's old show, Suits.
Despite this, an insider pointed out that With Love, Meghan was actually in the top 5 per cent of Netflix shows — and had outperformed other leading 'lifestyle' shows such as The Great British Baking Show, two seasons of Chef's Table and Season 9 of Queer Eye.
However, the Hollywood insider noted that Netflix likely expected the show to fare better given the amount of promotion put into it.