Exhibitors have been pushing Netflix to make a real commitment to theatrical exhibition, especially as the streamer inches closer to completing its Warner Bros. acquisition, which would come with built-in contractual obligations to filmmakers.
Many in the industry are interpreting Netflix’s planned “Stranger Things” finale rollout as an “olive branch to exhibitors — and a trial balloon to test the theatrical waters.
Still, don’t be fooled. Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos has remained notoriously vague when it comes to theatrical strategy. While he previously insisted nothing would change if a deal cleared Trump’s DOJ, he stopped short of outlining how long a Warner Bros. title would actually remain in theaters.
Sarandos has told the press, “There’s been a lot of talk about theatrical distribution, so we want to set the record straight: we are 100% committed to releasing Warner Bros. films in theaters with industry-standard windows.”
Of course, Hollywood remains unconvinced. The town is still trying to decode what “industry-standard” means in Netflix terms.
Sources are now telling Deadline that Netflix reportedly only wants to keep movies in theaters for 17 days after it buys Warner Bros, a move that would “steamroll the theatrical business.” Major circuits like AMC continue to insist the line must be held at roughly 45 days.
Here’s what I wrote last week:
Sarandos is the same man who called theatrical release “an outmoded idea.” The same man who claimed that watching Lawrence of Arabia on your phone was “just as good” as seeing it on the big screen. The same man who insisted that Barbenheimer would “have had the same cultural impact” if it had gone straight to Netflix. And the man who labeled theatrical release an “inefficient” way to distribute a $200M movie.
And yet, I don’t think Sarandos is the villain here. He’s a businessman doing what he believes is right for his company. The endgame is clear: push theatrical into extinction mode so that streaming becomes the default — and eventually the only — movie delivery system.
No, the real villain in this story is Warner Bros CEO David Zaslav — a man who stands to become a billionaire if a Netflix deal goes through, a man who seemingly couldn’t give a sh*t about the future of movies. Zaslav has been steadily devaluing cinema since his reign of terror began at WBD more than three years ago. His legacy may ultimately be that of an executive who sold his soul to the devil in service of the bottom line.