Scamming in the film industry is nothing new, but one allegedly amounting to $55 million is nothing short of a catastrophe. The victim in question is Netflix, a streaming giant often called out by fans and artists for being unjust. The scammer allegedly is the director of one of Keanu Reeves’ worst movies to date, 47 Ronin.

Keanu Reeves’ 47 Ronin is one of his worst movies
Carl Erik Rinsch has found himself embroiled in a legal battle against Netflix, for allegedly siphoning millions of dollars and using them for his gains instead of delivering what was supposed to be a 13-episode, 120-minute-long sci-fi series called Conquest.

 

How Netflix Got Allegedly Scammed By Carl Erik Rinsch

Netflix has lost $55 million now with Conquest
 

It was the early 2010’s and the cinematic world was rushing toward online streaming platforms. With consumer demands reaching an insatiable level, Netflix agreed with Keanu Reeves‘ 47 Ronin director Carl Erik Rinsch for a sci-fi show he had created along with his wife. The show was called Conquest, the company agreed to pay him a lump sum of $61.2 million in different installments.

The studio also gave the director two clauses that are hardly ever awarded to any filmmaker: a final cut as well as a promise to have Rinsch and his wife for all future installments of the series, despite numerous red flags. What followed was Rinsch, allegedly, taking up more money year by year without a single episode ever being completed.

As if this wasn’t all bad, the director’s behavior was allegedly reported by several cast and crew members as ‘erratic’, which included him making strange claims about COVID-19 transmission mechanics, being able to predict lightning strikes, and displaying delusional behavior. After two sleepless nights on set, he was said to have accused his wife of trying to assassinate him, prompting her to file a divorce case.

Things took a turn for worse when he allegedly transferred $10.5 million to his own personal brokerage account, losing much of it in investing and risky bets on the stock market.

 

47 Ronin Director allegedly Used Netflix’s Money For Personal Gains

Carl Rinsch (image via 47 Ronin Featurette)
What was supposed to be spent on Conquest ended up being spent on stock market bets, and investments, eventually leading to $5.9 million down the drain in weeks, as is being alleged by Netflix in the recently filed lawsuit. As Netflix broke the deal with Carl Erik Rinsch, asking him to shop it to some other studio given the company was justly reimbursed, Rinsch allegedly began spending the remaining money.

Much of it was used to place bets on crypto, about $4 million on Dogecoin. While his stock market bets failed, he ended up getting a profit of $27 million in 2021. This money was again used to fund his extravagant purchases, which presumably included five Rolls-Royces, a Ferrari, a nearly $400K Vacheron Constantin watch, and the rest on expensive clothing and furniture, amounting to close to $8.7 million.

Now as the issue has reached the courts, with his bitter divorce proceedings still going on, he has claimed that the streaming giant still owes him more than $14 million. While Hollywood has seen fiascos of all kinds, this one has been keeping everyone on edge. Furthermore, it must be noted that all the above claims are yet to be proved true as there hasn’t been any verdict till now.

Source: The New York Times