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What's New on Netflix NZ in October 2026: East of Eden, The Diplomat and Lupin

· Streaming in NZ · Updated · By the NZ TV Time desk
What's New on Netflix NZ in October 2026: East of Eden, The Diplomat and Lupin
October's Netflix arrivals, sorted for New Zealand.

Netflix's October in New Zealand opens with East of Eden on Thursday 1 October and gets busy in the second half: The Diplomat Season 4 on Thursday 15 October, Nobody Wants This Season 3 on Thursday 22 October and Lupin Part 4 on Friday 23 October.

A caveat first. When we checked on Thursday 24 September, Netflix's own New Zealand release schedule only covered September, so these are the dates Netflix has announced for each title worldwide. In September, every global title we compared (Outside, Medusa Season 2 and Love is Blind: Netherlands) landed here on the same date Netflix gave everywhere else. Any October title that breaks that pattern gets flagged on this page.

When new Netflix titles appear in New Zealand

In the evening, not at midnight. Most of September's releases on Netflix's New Zealand schedule are timed for 7pm up to Friday 25 September and 8pm from Monday 28 September, after daylight saving began. Both are midnight in California.

If October keeps that pattern, East of Eden would appear at 8pm on Thursday 1 October. The clock shifts again on Sunday 1 November, when the United States leaves daylight saving and a midnight Pacific release becomes 9pm here.

Top picks: TV

East of Eden (Netflix, 1 October)

Zoe Kazan has adapted John Steinbeck's 1952 novel as a seven-episode limited series, with Florence Pugh as Cathy Ames. Netflix frames it as a two-generation family saga, and the Trask family sits at its centre. As a limited series, all seven episodes are due on the first night.

Netflix's Tudum coverage leads with Pugh as Cathy, one of the most notorious characters in American fiction, and the trailer frames the story around good and evil as a choice.

Below (Netflix, 8 October)

Josh Hartnett stars in this Newfoundland-set drama. Its lead, Calvin Penney, is a big-hearted, stubborn fisherman in a small town who is still haunted by his father's unexplained death decades earlier. Netflix is selling it as an underwater mystery, and TVmaze lists six episodes.

The Diplomat Season 4 (Netflix, 15 October)

Keri Russell returns as ambassador Kate Wyler, with Rufus Sewell as Hal and Allison Janney in the cast again. Netflix's Season 4 teaser checks in on Kate, Hal, Grace and Todd. Debora Cahn created the series, which first streamed in April 2023.

Official trailer from Netflix on YouTube: The Diplomat Season 4 (15 September 2026).

Nobody Wants This Season 3 (Netflix, 22 October)

Kristen Bell and Adam Brody are back as Joanne, the podcaster, and Noah, the rabbi. Netflix says Andrew Rannells and Sarah Silverman join the cast for the new season. Erin Foster created the comedy, and its first season premiered in September 2024.

Lupin Part 4 (Netflix, 23 October)

Omar Sy returns as Assane Diop, the thief who models himself on Maurice Leblanc's gentleman burglar Arsène Lupin. Part 3 came out in October 2023, so this is the first new instalment in three years. It's a French series, and Wikipedia records that its first part became the most-watched non-English series on Netflix at the time, in 2021.

Hollywood Arts (Netflix, 15 October)

A new comedy in which Trina Vega goes back to Hollywood's most elite performing arts school as its newest teacher. It shares its premiere date with The Diplomat, so mid-October is the month's heaviest week.

Also worth a look

Haunted Hotel Season 2 (9 October) is the adult animated comedy about a single mother of two running a haunted hotel, helped by her estranged brother, who is now one of its ghosts. Cyberpunk: Edgerunners 2 (20 October) is the Japanese anime follow-up to the 2022 series.

Minimum Wage (26 October) is a new teen comedy about an overwhelmed group of teenagers trying to keep a local pizzeria running between school, a manic boss and minimum-wage pay. From Korea, Your Personal Taxi lands on 1 October and Take Charge of My Heart on 9 October.

Information card: key Netflix NZ release dates for October 2026
October's headline Netflix dates, in New Zealand order.

Top picks: documentaries and reality

Tyson (13 October) has Mike Tyson picking through the controversies of his career and his private life. A day later, Hunting Gary Glitter (14 October) follows journalists who chased the fugitive singer from Cuba to Cambodia and Vietnam.

Lighter options include Is It Cake? Halloween Season 2 on Friday 9 October, where bakers make hyper-realistic Halloween cakes, and The One About Matthew Perry, a documentary due on Tuesday 27 October. Netflix hasn't confirmed its October films for New Zealand yet, so we'll add them when its local schedule updates.

All titles arriving

Every October series on Netflix we could confirm with a global date, in date order. Non-English series are marked with their language.

Prime Video's month is on our Prime Video NZ October list, and every monthly list lives in Streaming in NZ. If you're weighing up subscriptions, what every NZ streaming service costs is in our guide section. For free-to-air, the Taskmaster NZ final is on TVNZ 2 on Tuesday 13 October (more in Winners), and The Block Australia 2026 still has no NZ date, as tracked in Aussie Shows in NZ.

Sources

By the NZ TV Time desk · Updated 25 September, 7.11am NZST

#Netflix NZ#New on Netflix#East of Eden#The Diplomat#Lupin
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