Days after telling the New York Times that Netflix would commit to a 45-day theatrical window after its acquisition of Warner Bros, the streamer’s co-CEO Ted Sarandos reiterated that pro-cinema message on a Q4 earnings YouTube video this afternoon.
“I have in the past made observations about the theatrical business. We were not in the theatrical business when I made those observations,” says Sarandos who has poured cold water on moviegoing and cinemas in myriad public appearances going back several years.
“When this deal closes, we will be in the theatrical business,” he emphasized.
Explaining why he finally drank the motion picture Kool-Aid, Sarandos said, “This is a business and not a religion, so conditions change and insights change. And we have a culture that we reevaluate things when they do.”
He pointed to examples of how Netflix has evolved its business attitudes and made pivots, i.e. with sports, live programming and running ads. “We debated many times for many years whether we should build a theatrical distribution engine or not. In a world of priority setting and constrained resources, it didn’t make the priority cut,” explained Sarandos. When Netflix first began dipping their toes in theatrical with their 2018 awards slate, led by Alfonso Cuaron’s Roma, they employed vet distribution booker, the late Andy Gruenberg. Beginning in June 2019, Netflix hired 20th Century Fox distribution vet Spencer Klein who has overseen the theatrical plays of The Irishman, Knives Out: Glass Onion and Wake Up Dead Man, Guillermo del Toro’s Frankenstein among several other titles. Netflix achieved their first No. 1 movie at the weekend box office in late August with the post-streaming big screen play of Kpop Demon Hunters Singalong which minted $19M over two days.
Continued Sarandos on the Q4 video, “When this deal closes, we’ll have the benefit of having a scaled world class distribution business with more than $4 billion at the global box office.”
“We’re excited to maintain it and strengthen that business,” Sarandos added, “Warner Bros films will be released in theaters with a 45-day window, just like they are today.”
Note the key words there: Warner Bros films.
Prior to Sarandos fielding an analyst’s query on Netflix’s changing views on theatrical, co-CEO Greg Peters waved some pom poms for motion pictures’ first window.
Said Peters, “We already know that with existing film output deals, that the theatrical model is an effective complement to the streaming model.”
Read, Sony theatrical movies always pop among Netflix’s most viewed in any given week, hence the streamer re-upping with the Culver City lot on a pay-1 deal worth per sources $7 billion-plus.
A winning attribute of a Warner Bros acquisition per Peters: “They bring a mature, well run theatrical business.”