Netflix, the only profitable streaming service on the planet, says it will never release its movies in theaters.
“Netflix Chief Content Officer Bela Bajaria has no plans to double down on theatrical more than the OTT entertainment conglom already has,” reports the far-left Deadline. This basically means that other than a short, limited theatrical release to qualify for Academy Awards, if you want to watch Netflix movies, you must subscribe to Netflix.
“We’re the only real pure-play streamer, and our members love films, and they want to see films on Netflix,” Bajaria said at a Wednesday evening press conference. “I think a lot of companies …do theatrical and it’s a great business for them. It’s just not our business.”
“Our business is to make sure that members come to Netflix, they’re in the mood for a movie and they get that movie that they want to see and that is always going to be the focus for us,” she added.
Streaming services like Apple and Amazon want it both ways. They want the theatrical returns from movies like Napoleon, Killers of the Flower Moon, Air, Saltburn, Emancipation, and Tetris and then want to draw subscribers to their streaming services with this same content.
Is that working? I don’t think so. People who want to see those movies can see those movies without subscribing to a streaming service.
Netflix is smart. If you want to see a Netflix movie, like the upcoming Beverly Hills Cop IV, you have nowhere else to go. This is how I would run Netflix. Seems like a no-brainer decision to me.
Also, what Netflix does is no different from what HBO has done for decades: lure prestige names to create movies available exclusively on HBO. You might say that producing a sequel to a blockbuster like Beverly Hills Cop is different, but it’s really not. Cable outlets like HBO have been producing sequels to iconic movies forever: The Birds, Psycho, The Omen, Smokey and the Bandit, Midnight Run, Home Alone… These cable outlets have also made plenty of prestige films.
Nothing Netflix is doing is new.
So why all the handwringing?
Why all the pressure on Netflix to… Save theatrical!
The answer is this: Netflix is kicking Hollywood’s ass.
Netflix single-handedly forced all the other studios to create a streaming service, and streaming is destroying the cash cow that is cable and satellite TV. Instead of paying $150 a month for dozens of channels we never watch, we’re only paying $15 for a streaming service we do watch.
Secondly, other than Netflix, streaming services from Universal, Disney, Paramount, etc., are losing hundreds of millions per year. So, they’re stuck. This is why they want their cake and to eat it by releasing movies in theaters. They desperately need the theatrical revenue, even though it’s costing them subscribers — which strikes me as stepping over dollars to pick up nickels.
Also, Big Movies like a Beverly Hills Cop sequel get people back into the habit of going to the movies. That benefits everyone.
Too bad for the rest. Netflix is doing what Netflix should be doing, and that’s looking out for Netflix.
Who do you think is doing it right? The only profitable streamer around, or all the rest, those losing an ocean of money?
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