Dan Lin Out as Netflix Film Chief After Nearly Three Years

Netflix has dismissed Dan Lin as its head of film after almost three years in the job, multiple sources tell Variety. Lin was let go at the start of the weekend and addressed his teams on Monday, according to two sources.

The move caps a brutal stretch for the streamer. Roughly 1,000 employees were laid off last week, and the cuts ended with the shock firing of chief content officer Bela Bajaria. A Netflix spokesperson had no immediate comment.

Lin's own circle was already thinning. In the days before his ouster, the layoffs claimed his deputy Doug Belgrad and Sheroum Kim, who headed the film vertical's indie division. Even so, Lin kept a public face through the weekend: he attended Saturday's Academy Gala and turned up Sunday evening at a tastemaker screening for "La Bola Negra" on the Netflix campus.

Who replaces Lin?

Nobody knows yet — but an announcement is expected within days. Mike De Luca and Pam Abdy, the former heads of the Warner Bros. Motion Picture Group, have been widely speculated to be in talks with Netflix about a possible role at the company. Neither has been confirmed.

Why is Netflix restructuring?

The film division's shakeup is part of a larger creative overhaul. Netflix has spent months fielding headlines about engagement problems and stock stagnation, all following its failed bid to buy Warner Bros. The most consequential move so far: hiring Peter Rice, a seasoned film and TV executive, to replace Bajaria.

What does Lin leave behind?

Lin's arrival in 2024 turned heads. He ran Rideback, a thriving production house he built himself, best known for the animated "Lego" film franchise, the adaptations of Stephen King's "It" and the "Sherlock Holmes" movies. He left that company to replace longtime film lead Scott Stuber.

His output was substantial. In a June sit-down with The New York Times, Lin said he had greenlit or acquired 88 movies for Netflix up to that point. The standouts include "Apex," "Emelia Perez," "Here Comes the Flood," "The Further Mis-Adventures of Cliff Booth" and Greta Gerwig's "Narnia: The Magician's Nephew."

What does this change for the films themselves? With a successor unnamed and two of Lin's top lieutenants gone, Netflix's slate decisions now sit with whoever takes over — and the De Luca-Abdy talks suggest the streamer wants seasoned studio hands, not another producer-turned-executive, calling the shots.