In the week Netflix is releasing its biggest-budget movie, the streaming service has reported it will be moderating growth in its content spending to match a squeeze on subscribers and revenues.

Netflix will spend about $17bn on content this year and is set to keep it around that level. It would have greenlit the $200mn budget for The Gray Man blockbuster action movie, starring Ryan Gosling, in better days, when subscribers were signing up and gorging themselves on content during pandemic lockdowns.

Times have changed. In April, it reported its decade-long run of subscriber growth ended in the first quarter with a decline of around 200,000 users, as competition among streaming services increased and consumers cut back on spending. On Tuesday, it recorded a further 970,000 net losses for the second quarter, although this was good news compared to the 2mn drop it had predicted.