Netflix’s much-hyped Skyscraper Live won’t be going live tonight from Taiwan’s capital due to Mother Nature.
“Due to weather, we are unable to proceed with today’s SkyscraperLIVE event,” a spokesperson for the streamer said with just 30 minutes to go before the whole ascend up the Taipei 101 was set to start. “It has been rescheduled for Saturday, January 24 at 8 PM ET | 5 PM PT. Safety remains our top priority, and we appreciate your understanding.”
“We will follow up later today with updated timing on press opportunities for tomorrow,” Netflix added, with digital fingers likely crossed. Fortunately for the company, the immediate reaction on social media was pretty positive and supportive of the delay and Netflix’s safety first attitude.
Also fortunately for Netflix, the forecast for tomorrow (which will be Sunday in Taiwan) is “partly sunny and pleasant,” according to weather services.
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With a 10-second delay built in just in case the worst happens, the latest live event from the increasingly sporty streamer has been pitched in many ways as a mash-up spectacle. With a bit of Philippe Petit’s 1974 high-wire walk between the Twin Towers, Evel Knieval’s entire career, and Honnold’s own free solo climb of El Capitan in the Oscar winning 2018 documentary of the same name, the whole affair is very much on brand for Netflix as the Ted Sarandos and Greg Peters-run business goes for big tent unscripted one-offs.
Still, for all the planning and hype, things were already looking a little dicey for Skyscraper Live just a few days ago with the Heavens opening up over Taipei – as Free Solo star Honnold made clear:
Rest day stroll in rain – very scenic views of Taipei though a little bit wet right now. Getting over my jet lag and feeling pretty good. Getting psyched! pic.twitter.com/zHn7LnPKNd
— Alex Honnold (@AlexHonnold) January 21, 2026
Of course, this being high-minded Hollywood, there was, and still is, a timely FU accompanying Honnold’s climb today, intentional or not.
As Netflix fends off another attempt by David Ellison’s Paramount to gobble up Warner Bros Discovery, the streamer’s Taipei event would have one day before the much-marketed UFC launch on Paramount+. Labeled with a $7.7 billion payout from Ellison in one of his first big moves after taking over the studio, the debut of Dana White’s Octagon ran the rare risk of being overshadowed by Honnold’s death defying endeavor.
Now, the stakes are even (pardon the pun) higher as Skyscraper Live and UFC from Sin City will go almost head-to-head tomorrow.
Ranked as the tallest building in the world for about five years after its 2004 opening, Taipei 101 is now not even in the Top 10. Coming in at Number 11 today, the 1,667 ft tall Tower is dwarfed by Dubai’s 2,722 ft high Burj Khalifa – which has been in the top spot since just after it opened in 2010.
Beyond the horrors of a fall by Honnold during the two-hour climb, the other challenge Netflix’s faces out of Skyscraper Live is a widely-mocked technical glitch or crash from an overload of viewers. Beyond being painful to watch, the November 2024 fight between former champ Mike Tyson and Jake Paul suffered from a series of sound and streaming issues that sent many Netflix subscribers into a frenzy.
Then again, like the streamer’s holiday NFL games, that Paul-won fisticuffs with Iron Mike scored a massive audience for Netflix …high or low, spectacle always sells.