Netflix spent a lot of time arguing that the future of movies was watching them at home, not in theaters.
Now Netflix wants to buy a movie studio that puts movies into theaters. So it’s started saying that watching movies in theaters is good, sometimes.
That’s the messaging Netflix has been trying to make ever since it announced plans to buy Warner Bros. Discovery in December. But that messaging hasn’t been satisfying to some people who care a lot about the future of movies in theaters.
Which is why Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos appeared in The New York Times on Friday, talking about how much he likes the business of putting movies into theaters. Again, it’s an idea he’s been talking about since he announced the (proposed) Netflix/WBD deal on December 5.
Sarandos did say one thing he thinks is new and important: A commitment to keep all future Warner Bros. movies in theaters for at least 45 days:
When this deal closes, we will own a theatrical distribution engine that is phenomenal and produces billions of dollars of theatrical revenue that we don’t want to put at risk. We will run that business largely like it is today, with 45-day windows. I’m giving you a hard number. If we’re going to be in the theatrical business, and we are, we’re competitive people — we want to win. I want to win opening weekend. I want to win box office.
That 45-day commitment won’t mean much to most people. But Sarandos definitely thinks it matters — “I’m giving you a hard number.”
The very abbreviated backstory: Sarandos and Netflix have spent years fighting the idea of a theatrical “window” — the amount of time movies spend exclusively in theaters before they move to platforms like streaming services, rentals, and purchases. Their general argument: If people want to watch movies at home — that is, on Netflix — they should get to do that.
Netflix has periodically had to soften that stance to accommodate high-profile movies and talent, which is why you could see Martin Scorcese’s “The Irishman” in theaters for a few weeks before it came to Netfix in 2019, and why “Barbie” director Gretg Gerwig’s “Narnia” will be in Imax theaters for a couple weeks this fall before it comes to Netflix. Netflix has also periodically debated its streaming-only/mostly stance internally.
But externally, Sarandos has been a huge promoter of the idea that the future of movies is at home — which happens to align with the fact that moviegoing has been in decline for years. That’s not just because of Netflix, but because the internet gives people lots of other things to do besides going to theaters.
Now, as he prepares to buy WBD, Sarandos has had to change his tune. The shortest version of his new one: We weren’t in the business of putting movies into theaters, but if we buy WBD, we will be, so we’ll do that.
But that hasn’t convinced lots of people that a business built on streaming is going to become one that cares about theaters.
In part, that’s because Sarandos also said things like “our primary goal is to bring first-run movies to our members because that’s what they’re looking for,” when announcing the deal. He’s also said he hopes “windows will evolve to be much more consumer-friendly to be able to meet the audience where they are quicker” — which reasonable people believe means he intends for movies to spend less time in theaters.
Meanwhile, Paramount, the Hollywood studio that would like to buy WBD instead, has made a commitment to putting movies in theaters, and honoring “healthy traditional windows” as part of its talking points.
So now, Sarandos has planted a 45-day flag. Whether that mollifies Hollywood or anyone else is an open question.
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