Credit: Netflix

The year went by so fast, and October of them all is already halfway over. Now you might’ve been too busy catching up on the latest releases on Netflix to notice everything else going on, which is fair enough, because some of the biggest Netflix stories this week happened all across the world.

Although this isn’t “fun news”, Netflix announced around 1,000 job cuts and then confirmed a major leadership change: Bela Bajaria is leaving after nearly ten years, and former Disney executive Peter Rice is taking over as Netflix’s chief content officer. Hmm, that explains the latest Netflix-Disney deal.

But don’t worry, there was plenty happening on-screen, too. The Diplomat finally returned for season four, and Mike Tyson’s four-part documentary made its way to Netflix viewers. On the fun side, Hollywood Arts brought Trina Vega back to the Victorious universe.

And believe it or not, that’s only part of what happened last week. Missed anything? Here are five more Netflix updates worth knowing about.

Narnia: The Magician’s Nephew gets its first trailer

Well, this is quite something! Greta Gerwig has finally given us our first look at Narnia: The Magician’s Nephew, and rather than taking us straight back through that wardrobe we’ve all come to know and love, she’s decided to wind the clock right back to where the whole thing began. The trailer, which dropped on October 13th, introduces us to childhood friends Digory Kirke and Polly Plummer, who find themselves whisked off to all sorts of peculiar worlds thanks to a set of magical rings, eventually bringing us to the creation of Narnia itself.

But the biggest surprise is hearing Led Zeppelin’s Stairway to Heaven’s addition to the mix, because that’s not the sort of soundtrack you’d expect to accompany a C. S. Lewis adaptation, is it? Gerwig is both writing and directing this one, with David McKenna and Beatrice Campbell taking on the roles of Digory and Polly, Emma Mackey stepping into the shoes of the White Witch, Daniel Craig playing the magician Andrew Ketterley and, rather intriguingly, Meryl Streep lending her voice to Aslan.

Now, as for when we’ll actually get to see the whole thing, IMAX previews are kicking off next year from February 10th, followed by a wider cinema release on February 12th, before the film eventually makes its way to Netflix on April 2nd.

Netflix grabs 2030 FIFA World Cup rights in Spain and Andorra

Netflix certainly doesn’t muck about when it comes to live sports anymore, and the biggest example of this is the latest FIFA announcement. The platform has only gone and snapped up the exclusive rights to show all 104 matches of the 2030 men’s FIFA World Cup in Spain and Andorra, which is a pretty massive deal when you consider just how much of a big event this particular tournament is shaping up to be.

Announced on October 13th, the agreement comes as the World Cup prepares to celebrate its 100th anniversary, with reigning champions Spain sharing hosting duties with Morocco and Portugal, while Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay will also be getting in on the action with special centenary matches. And Netflix isn’t planning on simply sticking the football on and calling it a day either, because we’re talking pre-match build-ups, half-time analysis, post-match discussions and daily round-ups, so there’ll be plenty to keep fans occupied even when nobody’s actually kicking a ball about.

The Conjuring: Unspoken launched on Netflix Game

We’ve all watched Conjuring movies, and some part of us has always wondered what we would have done if we were in the same situation. Well, no more wondering because Netflix has brought us The Conjuring: Unspoken on Netflix Games on October 13th, and this time you are investigating the haunting yourself. Set in England’s supposedly haunted Red Lion Inn, the interactive story follows a grieving family whose stay takes a sinister turn, with players choosing dialogue, hunting for clues and using their phones as controllers.

At the centre we have an eight-year-old Bryony Cooper, who’s stopped speaking since her mother’s death but has started hearing unsettling voices, while you’ll also step into the shoes of demonologist Francesca Noakes, armed with an electromagnetic field reader, infrared camera and spirit box. Throw in Vinea, a demon feeding on grief, and Florrie, a ghost linked to the inn’s well, and you’ve got yourself a huge nightmare. All you need is Netflix; no film homework required.

Love Is Blind Season 11 opens the Boston pods

Boston’s got itself a fresh batch of hopeless romantics, and they’ve gone and signed up for the daftest dating experiment on TV. Love Is Blind returned on October 14th for Season 11, with 30 singles aged 28 to 40 agreeing to get engaged before they’ve so much as seen their partner’s face. We have a beekeeper this time, along with a retired professional baseball player and a biotech engineer, so you can bet the chats in those pods won’t be dull. Nick and Vanessa Lachey are back to keep an eye on proceedings, though heaven knows how anyone keeps a straight face through some of this.

The first five episodes are out, with three more due on October 21st and another three on October 28th, ahead of the finale on November 4th and the reunion on November 8th. Six couples make it out engaged, but one face-to-face meeting goes pear-shaped, and it’s proper toe-curling stuff, even by this show’s bonkers standards.

Below and Animals becomes a breakout hit

Netflix’s latest Top 10 has served up quite the double whammy, with Below getting the crown for English-language series and Animals taking the top spot among films, and neither sounds like much of a relaxing night in, if you ask us. Figures released on October 13th show Below raking in a whopping 17 million views, the biggest debut for a Canadian Netflix title to date. Josh Hartnett plays a Newfoundland fisherman who finds himself tangled up with a mysterious sea creature, with Mackenzie Davis joining the mess as a marine researcher and Charlie Heaton playing his son.

Animals, on the other hand, has got 23.8 million views, with Ben Affleck directing and starring as a politician whose son’s kidnapping plunges his family into a ransom nightmare. Kerry Washington plays his wife, while Gillian Anderson and Steven Yeun join the cast. Both premises are pretty grim, but audiences are lapping them up.