समाचार

It’s no secret that the film and TV industry is getting more risk-averse. The projects awarded generous budgets are often anchored by existing IP (see: Disney’s constant stream of live-action remakes, endless Jurassic Park sequels or HBO’s Harry Potter reboot).

Now the industry’s play-it-safe ethos is spilling over into documentaries, with an unrelenting true-crime obsession among viewers and creative teams alike resulting in a steady churn of murder docs. Celebrity-led biographical projects, too, have swept in and emerged more popular than ever: Netflix’s Beckham accrued 3.8 million views in the U.K. alone in its launch week, and Paramount+’s new Eminem feature Stans just landed a limited U.S. theater run in August.

This cautiousness is even more pronounced in the political documentary space, especially in the U.S. where they aren’t being made at all. Financiers won’t back them; whether that’s...