Yesterday, the annual Netflix blitz revealed the entire 2024 film slate for the streaming giant.
You had the usual suspects, like Zack Snyder’s “Rebel Moon: Part 2 – The Scargiver,” Mark Molloy’s “Beverley Hills Cop: Axel Foley,” John Ridley’s “Shirley,” Jerry Seinfeld’s “Unfrosted: The Pop-Tart Story,” the action thriller “The Union,” starring Mark Wahlberg and Halley Berry, and Seth Gordon’s “Back In Action,” starring Jamie Foxx and Cameron Diaz.
One thing I noticed. Where were the Oscar contenders? I barely found any. Unless you believe Malcolm Washington’s “The Piano Lesson,” Lee Daniels’ “Deliverance” and Richard Linklater’s “Hit Man,” stand a chance. Maybe they do, but the most enticing one is Linklater’s film, and that one already screened at various film festivals last year.
This conveniently leads us to what Chief Content Officer Bela Bajaria said yesterday. She turned some heads by saying that Netflix will never do theatrical as “our members love films and they want to see films on Netflix.”
“We’re the only real pure-play streamer and our members love films and they want to see films on Netflix. I think a lot of companies and business do theatrical and it’s a great business for them. It’s just not our business.
Our business is to make sure that members come to Netflix, they’re in the mood for a movie and they get that movie that they want to see and that is always going to be the focus for us: Making great movies for Netflix that members want to see.”
This pales in contrast to what Apple and Amazon are currently doing with their theatrical distribution model, Netflix is refusing to follow suit. They tend to have a handful of Oscar contending releases that get limited theatrical runs — often for just a week — and that’s it. This year, with Netflix’s lack of baity films, they’ll have even less of a presence in theaters.
This comes after the departure of Netflix boss Scott Stuber, who vouched for theatrical. And, for a while, he was persistently trying to get a Best Picture winner — films like “The Irishman,” “Marriage Story,” “Roma,” and “The Power of the Dog” came close, but no cigar.
This doesn’t bother me as much as it might others. I get it, keeping theaters thriving and alive is of the utmost importance, but do you blame Netflix for not adhering to theatrical distribution? Their formula seems to be working — why change it? Over 260 million subscribers.
Also, they managed to get passion projects made from the likes of Baumbach, Fincher, Scorsese, Coen, Campion, Cuaron, Haynes, Del Toro and plenty more. Would some of these films have even existed without Netflix?
The man doesn't stop. James Gunn has confirmed he's already hard at work writing his next film, even as ‘Man of Tomorrow’ makes its way toward theaters next summer.