There’s certainly no love lost between Steven Spielberg and Netflix. Back in 2018, he went so far as to say that Netflix movies should contend for Emmys, not Oscars, arguing that a brief theatrical run used only to satisfy Oscar eligibility rules was not enough to make a film a true theatrical release.
Now, in an interview with ITV News, Spielberg point-blank states that he would never make a Netflix movie unless he were “someone who made movies intended to be sent out as little cassettes or little DVDs to individuals.”
I am a moviemaker who believes in big motion picture, 70mm theatrical experiences.
His stance has to do with the energy of a “filled up theater”—where strangers laugh or scream in unison—which he believes is a fundamental part of the cinematic experience that cannot be replicated when watching a movie at home.
Spielberg notes that if he were to create content for Netflix, he would know it is “only going to be seen by millions of people on their home screens,” which contradicts his primary goal of making movies for “big venues.”
Unlike their competitors, Apple and Amazon, which have given many of their films robust wide theatrical rollouts, Netflix refuses to embrace that model. The streamer typically gives only a handful of its Oscar-contending releases limited theatrical runs—often for just a week—and that’s it. They recently made an exception for Greta Gerwig’s “Narnia,” which will receive a 45-day theatrical rollout. However, only a few weeks after that was announced, Netflix film chief Dan Lin made it clear that the company would not be working with filmmakers who insist on theatrical releases in the future.
Yet Netflix has also managed to finance passion projects from the likes of Baumbach, Fincher, Scorsese, Coen, Campion, Cuarón, Haynes, Del Toro, and many others. Would some of these films have even existed without Netflix?
It’s food for thought, but Spielberg won’t be joining any of these filmmakers anytime soon. He remains steadfast in his beliefs and will continue making films that are meant to be seen on the big screen.