Halle Berry's sci-fi film The Mothership becomes latest Netflix casualty

Sadly for those who were looking forward to Halle Berry's new science fiction film The Mothership, it looks like the movie wasn't meant to be. Despite the fact that it finished filming back in 2021, The Mothership has experienced several significant post-production delays that left the movie in an uncompleted state.

It sounded like the film would finally be on track for a 2024 release, but according to Variety via a scoop from The InSneider, Netflix has chosen to scrap the movie altogether rather than pay to finish it. The movie would have marked Berry's second major collaboration with the streaming service as she previously starred in the sports drama Bruised.

The Mothership was written and directed by the Oscar-nominated writer Matthew Charman, who received acclaim for his movie Bridge of Spies starring Tom Hanks. The Mothership would have marked his feature directorial debut.

Principal photography began in June 2021 and ended two months later. Variety doesn't go into detail about the post-production delays, but it sounds like the film has been troubled for a while. The acting and writing strikes could have played a role in the film's lack of completion, but considering the movie was finished in 2021 and the strikes didn't happen until 2023, it seems more likely that there was something else going on behind the scenes that ultimately led Netflix to cancel the movie altogether.

The Mothership also starred Omari Hardwick, Jaiden J. Smith, Quinn McPherson, Sydney Lemmon, Molly Parker, Paul Guilfoyle, and John Ortiz. It would have followed Berry's character Sara Morse after she finds a mysterious extraterrestrial object beneath her house that could lead her to information regarding her husband's disappearance the year before.

What's next for Halle Berry?

However, Halle Berry fans still have plenty to look forward to. The actress is expected to continue working with Netflix on the upcoming action movie The Union co-starring Mark Wahlberg. Netflix and Berry entered a multi-picture deal after the success of her directorial debut Bruised. She'll also star opposite Angelina Jolie in the Warner Bros. thriller Maude v Maude and Alexandre Aja's upcoming horror film Never Let Go.

So far, Berry hasn't publicly commented on The Mothership's cancellation.

In January 2023, it was reported that Netflix had dumped two completed movies, The Inheritance and House/Wife. Given that we haven't seen either film resurface, it seems unlikely that The Mothership will ever see the light of day, but never say never!