What to expect from Netflix in 2025

Netflix has unveiled a raft of programming updates for its service around the world, with a ramping up of efforts in Latin America and a host of shows unveiled across Europe.

The news follows the global streamer’s concurrent Next on Netflix events held yesterday in a dozen countries, revealing not just the shows viewers can expect on screen but an indicator of the direction of travel for producers and distributors selling to the global operator.

Join Broadcast International as we whisk you around the world to find out the standout lines from each event, which took place in Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, Mexico, Poland, Spain, the US and the UK. To read coverage of the latter, click here.

Latin America

Netflix used its presentations in Argentina and Brazil to underline the breadth of local programming set to hit screens in the region, with shows ranging from an adaptation of Harlen Coben’s novel Caught to a documentary about Brazilian superstar Anitta.

Francisco Ramos, vice-president of content for LatAm, was on the ground at the event in Argentina and spoke of Netflix’s ongoing demand for shows that represent local culture.

Atrapados, the streamer’s adaptation of Coben’s Caught, is among the next big projects for the streamer and will debut on 26 March, followed by an adaptation of Argentinian sci-fi graphic novel El Eternauta, which will premiere globally on 30 April.

Fellow vice-president of content, Elisabetta Zenatti, led the Brazil’s showcase, pointing to the success of miniseries Senna – about the Brazilian racing legend – and talking up the premiere of the fifth and final season of Sintonia.

Unscripted originals are coming in the form of a new series of Love is Blind Brazil – this time with participants 50+ years of age – while documentary Larissa: The Other Side of Anitta dives into the life of the famous local singer-songwriter.

Zenatti said Netflix’s plans for 2025 in Brazil would concentrate on “continuing innovating by bringing new approaches to different stories,” with a “mission is to continue pushing the limits of creativity and storytelling.”

On screen, that translates to shows such as access doc Baila, Vini, about Real Madrid and Seleção footballer Vinicius Junior, and new Rio de Janeiro mafia series Os Donos do Jogo, while a second season of Criminal Code is also in the works.

Canada

Fresh stories is the focus for Netflix in Canada, where directors of content Danielle Woodrow and Tara Woodbury talked up the streamer’s first local series, North of North.

From Indigenous creators Stacey Aglok MacDonald and Alethea Arnaqaq-Baril, the comedy will debut in the spring and explores a young Inuk woman’s small town life in an Arctic community.

Sports is also on the slate in the far north, with an as-yet untitled documentary tracking the departure of the Expos baseball team from Montreal, Quebec.

Slated for release later in the year, Woodbury said the story “has everything you’d want - backroom negotiations and backstabbing, athletes on the edge, and a roller-coaster of emotions for the fans.”

Limited series Wayward rounds out the Canadian slate for 2025, with executive producer, co-showrunner, and star of the show, Mae Martin, at the Toronto event to talk up the thriller.

Bringing together a cop in a seemingly idyllic small town, two Toronto teenagers, and a mysterious school for troubled teens, Woodrow said Martin underlined the type of creative Netflix wants to work in Canada.

“As an executive, you’re always on the hunt for a creator with a singular voice and a unique point of view on the world - Mae Martin has these qualities in spades,” she said.

Mexico

The streamer used its Mexican event to confirm a second season of hit show The Accident, with vice-president of content, Carolina Leconte, pointing to shows such as The Manny, The Secret of The River and Pedro Páramo as the types of shows working for Netflix in the country.

“Our commitment is to continue offering authentic stories so that our Mexican members identify with them and see more Mexican realities reflected,” Leconte added, with comedies, dramas, thrillers and musical docs in the works.

Local talent Alberto Guerra and Alfonso Herrera introduced first looks of their respective series, Me Late Que Sí and Las Muertas, while documentary director María José Cuevas presented her new series, which explores the late Mexican singing idol Juan Gabriel.

Actors Tessa Ía and Emiliano Zurita were also in attendance to push drama series Nadie Nos Vio Partir, while Netflix also revealed first-looks for shows including La Más Fan, Gringo Hunters and Nuestros Tiempos.

“All these titles have very different formats, but in all of them, we are committed to hyper-local stories, full of identity and rooted in showcasing a much more authentic Mexico,” Leconte added.

Europe

Netflix might be a global streamer, but its attention is now on a country-by-country basis in many regions.

Nowhere was this underlined more than in Europe, where it held separate events in five countries, in addition to a pan-Nordics focused Next on Netflix.

In France, vice-president of content Pauline Dauvin said it wanted to continue “to tell unique stories” to engage subscribers, with classically local IP such as feature Astérix & Obélix: The Big Fight by Alain Chabat in the works.

Lupin star Omar Sy is heading back to the streamer for film French Lover, while Dauvin highlighted the new series Néro with Pio Marmaï as “examples of the richness and variety of our offering in 2025.”

In Germany, vice-president of content for DACH (Germany, Austria and Switzerland), Katja Hofem, reflected on the streamer’s decade anniversary in the region and unveiled more sports content, this time a doc with footballer Lukas Podolski titled Poldi.

A second series of Love is Blind: Germany and Die Falle, a new limited series from Isabel Kleefeld (Liebes Kind), are on the slate while a fourth series of How to Sell Drugs Online (Fast) will premiere on 8 April.

Talent including Ruby O. Fee and Matthias Schweighöfer took to the stage to present scenes from their new film Brick.

Further south in Italy, Tinny Andreatta took to the stage to promise “an even broader and more varied offering that will move between different genres and formulas, innovative formats, and languages” in 2025.

Authentic stories were again mentioned, with a particular emphasis on those “that capture the spirit of the times, going beyond the boundaries of what has already been seen”. Luca Argentero and Giulia Michelini joining the vice-president of content to announce their new series Motorvalley.

It’s joined by upcoming comedy, Maschi Veri, with Maurizio Lastrico, Matteo Martari, Francesco Montanari and Pietro Sermonti, but unscripted is the big bet for the streamer in Italy, with shows including Nuova Scena, Rhythm + Flow Italia S2 and Love is Blind: Italy all on the cards.

Netflix’s reality series Too Hot to Handle will also be reworked locally and Andreatta also revealed what was described as the streamer’s most ambitious Italian project to date, with an adaptation of famous novel, Il Gattopardo.

In Poland, Łukasz Kłuskiewicz, director of film CEE at Netflix, said the streamer would be experimenting with new formats, including a rap talent show, and had shows with “spectacular production scale” on offer.

That comes most obviously in the form of five-episode disaster drama Heweliusz, which is from the creators of 2022 hit High Water - Jan Holoube, director, Anna Kępińska, producer, and Kasper Bajon scriptwriter. It explores the story of the Jan Hevelius ferry that sank during a raging storm in 1993 on the Baltic Sea.

Contrasting that is a second season of satirical comedy series 1670, while the second instalment of the Furioza film franchise, Furioza Again, returns to the conflict between ultras groups fighting for control over the city.

Unscripted is also receiving attention, with a third series of Love Never Lies and rap performance-style show Rhythm + Flow Poland is getting the local treatment, following French and Italian versions.

Diego Ávalos did the honours for Netflix’s event in Spain, with the country’s vice-president of content – who also oversees Portugal and the Nordics – pointing to the success of Berlin, Society of the Snow, Raising Voices, and The Asunta Case.

All four were among the 25 most popular titles in the world:, he said, highlighting the importance of the country’s output for regional audiences but also those further afield.

Key shows for 2025 include young adult title Olympo, which is set in a high-performance sports center, and film She Walks in Darkness, a thriller about a policewoman infiltrated in ETA.

Unscripted is also a key plank for Netflix’s growth strategy, with two docuseries taking centre stage: Alcaraz: A Mi Manera, about Spanish tennis champion Carlos Alcaraz, and Aitana: Metamorfosis, with Spanish pop star Aitana.

Nordics

Unscripted was also well represented in the Nordics, where vice-president of content Jenny Stjernströmer Björk pointed to returners such as Love is Blind: Sweden S2 in her presentation.

There were also new series orders handed to Home for Christmas (S3) and Pørni (S5), while character-driven thriller The Reserve, romantic comedy series Diary of a Ditched Girl (based on Amanda Romare’s novel “Halva Malmö består av killar som dumpat mig”) and A Copenhagen Love Story from comedy duo Ditte Hansen & Louise Mieritz fill out the scripted slate.

On stage was Camilla Läckberg, who presented new crime show The Glass Dome (debuting 15 April), and Roar Uthaug talked up Troll 2, a sequel to Netflix’s most popular non-English language film.

US

Unsurprisingly, the US slate will dominate Netflix’s programming output in 2025, with a raft of recommissions for shows and the odd premiere date, too.

Just when the fifth series of Stranger Things and the second run of Wednesday will return, however, remains under wraps, although the streamer’s LA event did confirm the third and final instalment of Squid Game would land 27 June.

Among numerous announcements Stateside, new shows include a doc about the repercussions of hurricane Katrina, aptly titled Katrina: Come Hell and High Water, from Spike Lee, and a scripted reboot of Little House on the Prairie.

More Black Mirror is on the way, while Emily in Paris and The Witcher are among numerous scripted renewals set to debut later in the year.

Unscripted shows are also numerous, with reality revival Temptation Island sitting alongside docs such as Gone Girls: The Long Island Serial Killer and Americas Sweethearts: Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders. Live event TV is also set to be a focus for Netflix in 2025, as covered here, while in the US John Mulaney’s Everybody’s in LA will join the streamer’s burgeoning sports and wrestling coverage.