Jon Snow and Daenerys Targaryen standing in a snowy field in Game of Thrones season 8
By
Ben Gibbons
Published 54 minutes ago
Ben is a Senior Writer on the New TV team at Screen Rant. He graduated from the University of Central Lancashire with a First Class B.A. Degree in English Literature and History.
Born and raised in Ireland, Ben has always had a love for storytelling in all forms of media and operates multiple projects under the name Benjamin Blogs. Ben is a comic book writer and podcast host, in addition to his work as an entertainment journalist. He has worked as both a writer and editor for Screen Rant, Collider, and other media outlets across various departments, including features, news, reviews, and interviews.
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Game of Thrones' success was absolutely astonishing, so it makes sense that Netflix wanted to cash in on the show's popularity with a similar offering. Game of Thrones delivered one of the most compelling, gritty, and experimental TV shows ever made when it began airing in 2011.
By bringing the magical and dark fantasy world created by George R. R. Martin to the small screen, it created a frenzy of excitement for historical epic dramas that were willing to treat all the central characters as expendable, and push the limits on exploring all aspects of life for people within their setting.
And of course, that pushed other studios and streamers to step up their game in order to try and replicate the success.
Marco Polo Failed To Be Netflix's Game Of Thrones
Netflix Marco Polo
Enter Marco Polo, the epic historical drama series that centers on the life of the well-known explorer and traveler Marco Polo. The series depicts Marco's travels and life in 13th-century Mongolia, and it wasn't afraid to get gritty and graphic in order to depict the history.
While Netflix was in no way involved in producing Game of Thrones, they recognized how influential and popular the series had become, and so they sank a huge amount of money into Marco Polo to make it a comparable offering. But unfortunately, the series stagnated, and after just two seasons, it was canceled.
Netflix Learned A Lot Of Lessons From Marco Polo's Failure
The thing is, Netflix is not HBO, and they don't need to copy their success in order to make waves in the TV landscape. Netflix holds a unique position as the leading streaming platform, and with its growing library of original content, it can reach a broader audience than just one type of fan base.
Rather than investing so much money to make one epic series, Netflix has reinvested in literally hundreds of other projects, with a much bigger focus on acquiring popular IPs. Shows like Wednesday and Cobra Kai have proven that taking the foundations of a popular franchise and putting a unique spin on it can be hugely successful.
And expanding their offerings to ensure they reach a global audience with shows like Squid Game has landed Netflix incredible success that could never have been predicted before the show became a global phenomenon. Now, Netflix has diversified its portfolio with an ever-growing library of content.
As much as Marco Polo tried to replicate the success and popularity of Game of Thrones, it was an expensive lesson that Netflix needed to learn, one that immediately preceded their pathway to producing award-winning and record-breaking new content, such as Stranger Things. Today, Marco Polo may be a distant memory, but Netflix has bounced back stronger than ever.
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Game Of Thrones
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Marco Polo
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