Ted Sarandos might be changing his tune when it comes to theatrical exhibition.
The Netflix co-CEO came to Las Vegas on Sunday night and met with several heads of exhibition, including AMC Theatres CEO Adam Aron, Regal CEO Eduardo Acuna and Cinemark CEO Sean Gamble, talking over the possibility of putting more Netflix films into theaters, according to two individuals with knowledge of the meeting. He’s considering “dipping his toe in the water,” one individual said.
Previously, Sarandos had been staunchly opposed to expanding the theatrical window of Netflix films, a necessity for them to receive wide releases from exhibitors, instead opting for windows of no longer than three weeks, usually two, which resulted in smaller, awards-qualifying runs in key markets.
No firm plans were made at these CinemaCon meetings, but the tone was described as “hopeful” even as Sarandos maintained some films do better on streaming than in theaters.
Netflix did not immediately respond to TheWrap’s request for comment.
For years, Sarandos trumpeted the streaming-first ethos of the Netflix platform, much to the chagrin of filmmakers who dreamed of seeing their movies on the big screen, and at the expense of talent — Emerald Fennell famously turned down a more lucrative offer for “Wuthering Heights” from Netflix, opting to make the movie at Warner Bros. because of their strong support for theatrical. But when Netflix started courting Warner Bros., he started to change his tune.
During the fourth quarter earnings call earlier this year, when Netflix was the favorite to win Warner Bros., Sarandos said, “I have in the past made observations about the theatrical business. We were not in the theatrical business when I made those observations. When this deal closes, we will be in the theatrical business.” He added: “This is a business and not a religion, so conditions change and insights change. And we have a culture that we reevaluate things when they do.”
Pointing to pivots the company has made, he mentioned that Netflix started off as a DVD rental business before transitioning to a direct-to-consumer streaming entity.
Even after Netflix bowed out of the race to buy Warner Bros., Sarandos said he got a first-hand look at how the theatrical business worked for WB and left the door open for Netflix to work more closely with exhibitors.
There are also recent precedents that might have forced his hand – chiefly, the theatrical success of “KPop Demon Hunters,” which had a one-weekend run late last summer that amassed a staggering $18 to $20 million at the box office (Netflix didn’t report the actual grosses), making it the No. 1 movie that weekend. It would later win two Academy Awards – the first time a non-Pixar or Disney movie had ever accomplished that feat.
Also, there’s Apple’s Brad Pitt-led racing movie “F1,” released through a partnership with Warner Bros. last year that grossed a staggering $633.4 million. It was later nominated for four Academy Awards, including Best Picture, and continues to perform strongly on the Apple TV platform.
And just this year, Amazon MGM Studios had a huge hit with “Project Hail Mary,” which has already grossed over $500 million at the box office and is part of Amazon’s ambitious theatrical slate with, yes, robust windows before the films hit Prime Video.
Netflix has a huge slate for the rest of the year, including but not limited to the Russo Brothers-produced thriller “The Empty Man,” the animated fairy tale “Steps,” the David Fincher-directed, Quentin Tarantino-scripted follow-up to “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood,” animation legend Brad Bird’s “Ray Gunn” and Greta Gerwig’s big budget fantasy “Narnia.”
“Narnia” has already secured a limited IMAX engagement on Thanksgiving — a first-of-its-kind release for Netflix — before streaming on the platform at Christmas. But if Netflix changes its strategy and goes wider with “Narnia,” it could go toe-to-toe with all of the big holiday movies this year, like Marvel Studios’ “Avengers: Doomsday” and Sony’s “Jumanji 3.”
Most Hollywood studios contend there doesn’t seem to be much of a downside to releasing a movie in theaters before streaming – even if the movie doesn’t do as expected theatrically, it generates awareness, interest and excitement for its eventual direct-to-consumer debut.
Even Universal opted to expand its theatrical window this year to five weekends, and will go up to 45 days starting in 2027, largely as a result of looking at how its films perform when they hit PVOD and Peacock.
As CinemaCon continues amidst anxieties over the cost of the Warner Bros.-Paramount merger, the prospect of more Netflix movies in theaters would certainly come as a welcome surprise.
