Prince Harry and Meghan Markle have seen their Hollywood power and popularity ratings plunge since losing their big-money Netflix deal five months ago. New statistics showed the royal couple have plummeted down the rankings in the prestigious weekly Starmeter published by the world’s leading online movie database IMDb.
This uses a complex series of metrics – including box office success, critical reviews, current deals and projects, and even page hits and searches by fans – to determine an ever-changing “league table” of the most in-demand stars, directors, producers, podcasters and other key figures across the entertainment industry.
Last week’s table revealed that former actress Meghan, 44 – who has twice topped the Starmeter in the past – had slumped to its 2,133rd position. The Duke of Sussex’s descent into Hollywood obscurity was even more marked. His highest rating was at number 12 in January 2023, following the publication of his controversial memoir Spare, but he was now languishing in its 36,600th spot.
A senior Tinseltown production source said: “That’s not a mistake or a misprint. Harry’s right down there with the unknowns and also-rans. “I think Meghan would have been way further down the ladder too were it not for the limited popularity of her online brand (As Ever), a brief revival of her TV series (the legal drama Suits) last year and a Christmas special of her cookery show (With Love, Meghan – which has now been cancelled by Netflix after two seasons).”
The streaming giant also decided last September not to renew its contract with the couple’s production company Archewell, worth about £74million during the previous three years and perceived as their “golden ticket” to becoming serious Hollywood power players.
It did yield the record-breaking tell-all documentary series Harry & Meghan in December 2022 but subsequent projects failed to achieve the same success.
Their once-in-a-lifetime contract has been replaced by a “first look” agreement, which means they must pitch ideas to Netflix bosses and will only be paid for those that are accepted by studio bosses.
Meghan, who had a substantial Suits fan base before she met Harry, 41, first shot to the top of the Starmeter at the end of 2017 after they announced their engagement and claimed the number one spot again in March 2021 following their infamous TV interview with Oprah Winfrey.
Now the couple, who spent two days in Jordan last week on a “quasi-royal” two-day humanitarian trip, must try to re-establish Archewell as a genuine Hollywood powerhouse. Our senior production source revealed: “Meghan has already reached out to her agents (WME) and experts in the PR department at Netflix in an effort to fix her and Harry’s downward-trending images and boost their industry appeal.
“But the fact is you have to put in the work to get the recognition – and they just aren’t doing that.”
Archewell were approached for comment.
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‘ Some details of this article were extracted from the following source www.express.co.uk ’
