Harry and Meghan's Netflix film ‘risks being scrapped'
Little progress has been made on the Netflix adaptation of Meet Me at the Lake, Carley Fortune's hit romance novel, since the Sussexes secured the rights to produce the film in 2023.
However two years later, the project does not have a director and is nowhere close to choosing the cast, the New York Post reported.
It comes after the Duchess of Sussex apparently abandoned her Confessions of Female Founder podcast after just 11 episodes. Her previous podcast with Spotify, Archetypes, was not renewed after its first season.
The reports come ahead of the end of the £74 million deal between Netflix and the pair, which expires in September this year.
The New York Post claimed that more TV projects were forthcoming between Harry and Meghan's company, Archewell, and Netflix.
But a Netflix source cited by the Daily Mail said that the company was counting down the days for the deal to expire because Meghan's last TV show, With Love, Meghan, was a ratings disaster.
The first season of the show ranked 383rd on the streaming service, with 5.3 million views since its debut in March, a figure Hollywood trade bible Variety called 'very low'.
The second season, which has already been filmed, is set to air later this year.
The source said: 'This deal is dead. She (Meghan) had everything going for her - name, platform, press - and the numbers were dismal.
'They're just waiting for the credits to roll. They're letting it expire without drama. There's no appetite for anything new'.
When the adaptation of Meet Me At The Lake was announced, Ms Fortune gushed about it on social media, writing she was 'so thrilled' to be working with the Sussexes and Netflix.
Ms Fortune said she couldn't imagine a 'more perfect partnership' to bring the characters in the book to screen.
At the time, commentators drew parallels between the book's plot and Harry and Meghan's love story as they both feature a whirlwind romance, and one of the protagonists lost a parent in a car crash.
But now, after a two-year delay, a Hollywood insider quoted by the New York Post said: 'By this point, you would have thought they would have got a director on board and a cast. So, what is the delay?
'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?'
Another potential Archewell project, a documentary about Africa, may not come to fruition either.
The insider said: 'What's the betting that neither of these projects will see the light of day?'
Harry and Meghan's biggest success with Netflix remains their documentary Harry & Meghan, in which the couple told the story of their romance and departure from the Royal Family.
The show debuted in December 2022 and amassed 81.5 million viewing hours, making it the highest documentary premiere in Netflix's history.
The insider said: 'Let's be honest... Netflix got what they really wanted out of the Sussexes - their documentary'.
The Telegraph has contacted representatives for the Sussexes, Ms Fortune and Lemonada Media, which hosts the Duchess' podcast, for comment.
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