Lena Dunham’s ‘Good Sex’ to Stream on Netflix; Director Says Film “Doesn’t Need Theaters”

So, Lena Dunham is currently shooting “Good Sex,” with Natalie Portman in the lead role. The “Girls” creator is calling it a “romantic comedy,” which she wrote and is directing for Netflix.

This one’s a big swing: $55M big — that’s reportedly what Netflix shelled out for the project, which boasts an ensemble that includes Portman, Meg Ryan, Mark Ruffalo, and Rashida Jones.

Portman plays the lead, in a film centered around modern intimacy and the messiness of adult relationships. However, don’t expect a theatrical release. Dunham is perfectly fine with the streaming-first route, via Variety: “I really just want people to sit on a couch with their moms and their besties and lean in.”

She added that the theatrical-vs-streaming debate isn’t one she feels the need to wade into: “I love watching other filmmakers fight for the theatrical-release element — but I don’t think this will live or die by that.”

Though a release date hasn’t been locked in, Netflix is reportedly eyeing a 2026 rollout. The film also marks the acting debut of Tucker Pillsbury (aka indie-pop musician Role Model), who Dunham discovered on her “shadow” TikTok account. She likens his screen presence to a young Brad Pitt in “Thelma & Louise.”

Back in March, Netflix won the bidding war for “Good Sex,” closing in on a global rights deal that topped out at a staggering $55M — one of the biggest payouts for a rom-com, maybe ever.

The bidding had hovered around $45M, but Netflix overpaid to edge out theatrical-heavy contenders like Warner Bros., Amazon, and Apple. Given Netflix’s all-in approach to direct-to-streaming, they had to sweeten the pot — and they did.

With Netflix betting big, “Good Sex” could end up being Dunham’s most broadly accessible — and ironically, most personal — work yet. Whether it finds an audience beyond the “moms and besties” couch crowd? That’s the $55M question.