Michael Fassbender & Rebecca Ferguson’s $35M Crime Thriller Flop Is Officially Leaving Netflix At The Worst Time

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Michael Fassbender fans will only have a few short weeks to catch one of his most infamous movies.

One of the biggest movie disappointments of 2017 was The Snowman. Despite featuring a strong cast including Michael Fassbender, Rebecca Ferguson, Charlotte Gainsbourg, J.K. Simmons, and Val Kilmer, the thriller failed to find an audience. It earned just $43 million globally—less than its $35 million production cost—and received a dismal 7% rating on Rotten Tomatoes.

Okay, so I just saw the news – The Snowman is leaving Netflix on April 16th! That means we’ve got less than a month to check it out. It didn’t get the greatest reviews when it came out, but it’s become one of those ‘so bad it’s good’ movies with Michael Fassbender, and I’m kinda bummed I almost missed it.

This Netflix departure is especially unfortunate given the company’s upcoming plans for this content. Next week, they’ll release the series Jo Nesbo’s Detective Hole, which is based on Jo Nesbo’s popular Harry Hole novels – the same books that inspired the film The Snowman. The series premieres on March 26th.

Now is a great time to get into The Snowman. It’s the seventh book featuring detective Harry Hole, and it continues his story. While The Snowman is based on the fifth book in the series, The Devil’s Star, the two stories are distinct but share the same world.

Okay, so big news for fans of the story – Michael Fassbender won’t be reprising his role for the upcoming TV adaptation. Instead, we’re getting Tobias Santelmann as Detective Hole. And it’s not just him – the show is really leaning into a Nordic vibe, with Santelmann joining a cast that’s mostly Scandinavian, including names like Joel Kinnaman, Pia Tjelta, Anders Dahlberg, Ellen Helinder, and Aleksander Varadian. It’s a pretty significant shift in direction, that’s for sure.

The new detective series, Detective Hole, starts streaming on Netflix on Thursday, March 26th. This will overlap with the availability of the film The Snowman, creating an interesting situation where viewers can choose between watching the movie and exploring the Detective Hole TV show, both featuring similar themes.

It’s important to remember this isn’t a sure thing, considering The Snowman wasn’t well-received either. The film received very low scores – just 7% from critics and 19% from audiences – and many viewers criticized its slow pace, weak script, and how it differed from Jo Nesbo’s book.

This gives Jo Nesbø’s Detective Hole a chance to appeal to readers of the books. Similar crime dramas have been successful on TV – Prime Video’s Reacher is a good example. It remains to be seen whether Detective Hole will be a hit with fans, or disappoint them like the adaptation of The Snowman did.

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2026-03-22 17:41