Honestly, I wouldn’t blame theaters if they chose to stop screening Netflix films altogether. With her ‘Narnia’ project, Greta Gerwig is effectively partnering with a company many see as undermining the future of moviegoing. It feels like she’s taking a paycheck from a platform that’s actively trying to destroy the theatrical experience.
When asked at the TIME100 Summit whether Netflix has contributed to Hollywood’s struggles — such as shrinking theatrical windows, declining box office revenue, and productions leaving Los Angeles — Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos pushed back: “No, we’re actually saving Hollywood.”
Sarandos described Netflix as a company deeply attuned to viewer preferences, emphasizing their goal of delivering content the way audiences want it. Pointing to waning interest in theaters, he posed a rhetorical question: “What are consumers telling us?” His answer: “They want to watch films at home.”
While acknowledging his personal appreciation for cinemas, Sarandos suggested that, for many, the traditional moviegoing experience is becoming outdated. “I believe it is an outmoded idea, for most people, not for everybody.”
Netflix poses a very real and growing threat to the theatrical experience — not because it’s succeeding, but because it’s redefining success in a way that sidelines theaters entirely. The company’s model is built on immediacy: content drops globally, en masse, with no need for a cinema ticket, a commute, or even pants. That convenience, while undeniably attractive to consumers, is eroding the very foundation of the theatrical experience.
What’s worse is the way Netflix dresses its disruption in the language of consumer choice, while operating like a tech company pretending to care about cinema. It finances prestige projects and awards contenders every year, and just long enough to meet Oscar eligibility requirements, then yanks them from theaters and buries them on its algorithmic carousel, somewhere between “Love Is Blind: Brazil” and “Too Hot to Handle: Glacier Edition.”
And yes, filmmakers are complicit. Powerful filmmakers like Gerwig jumping ship to Netflix isn’t just a career move — it’s a statement, intentional or not, that the theater model isn’t worth fighting for. It signals to studios and audiences alike that the big screen has lost its shine.