Carl Rinsch, the American director known for the 2013 film 47 Ronin, has received a 30-month prison sentence. New York prosecutors confirmed on Monday that he was convicted for stealing millions of dollars from Netflix. The charges stemmed from his misuse of roughly $11 million that the streaming platform granted him in 2020 to develop a science fiction show called White Horse.
U.S. Attorney Jay Clayton stated that Rinsch failed to produce the series. Instead, the director funneled the capital into volatile cryptocurrency and stock market trades. Investigators also found that Rinsch spent significant portions of the funds on personal luxuries, including high-end furniture, designer clothing, a Ferrari, and five Rolls-Royce vehicles. In addition to his prison time, the court ordered him to forfeit the full $11 million.
His defense team requested a reduced sentence, citing high professional stress and a difficult divorce as contributing factors. While court filings did not explicitly name Netflix, the project was previously known as White Horse and later renamed Conquest. The story was intended to follow a scientist in Brazil who creates powerful, technologically advanced clones. Before the sentencing, Keanu Reeves, who worked with Rinsch on 47 Ronin, submitted a letter to the court asking for leniency, characterizing the filmmaker as a talented artist who often struggled with self-sabotaging behavior.