The next film from “Weapons” filmmaker Zach Cregger, sci-fi original “The Flood,” has stalled at Netflix over the streamer’s refusal to give the movie a theatrical release, TheWrap has exclusively learned.
Cregger wrote the original film at Amblin under the studio’s deal with the streamer, and after “Weapons” blew up this summer, making $267 million worldwide, Netflix tried to win Cregger’s commitment to make his film with the streamer.
According to three knowledgeable insiders, Netflix Films chairman Dan Lin flew to Prague this summer where Cregger was prepping Sony’s “Resident Evil” in order to convince him to direct the sci-fi project at the streamer. Those insiders said that Lin dangled a theatrical commitment.
But Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos later shot down the prospect of a theatrical release for “The Flood,” and with Cregger adamant that he wants to make the movie for theaters, the project — which Cregger has teased as potentially his next movie after “Resident Evil” — is now in limbo.
“The real question is whether Netflix backs down or they let Cregger take it out [to a different studio] because Zach remains committed to a theatrical release,” an individual with knowledge of the situation told TheWrap of the project, plot details of which are being kept under wraps.
Two different insiders disputed that the project was stalled and said that “talks are still ongoing,” with one insider categorizing the film as in “active development.”
The tussle over “The Flood” comes as Netflix has been flirting with more significant theatrical releases, putting “KPop Demon Hunters” in wide release after it exploded on Netflix and releasing Guillermo del Toro’s “Frankenstein” in over 400 theaters.
The streamer releases about 30 films in theaters a year and they all have bespoke release strategies, although the majority are given short awards-qualifying runs in New York and Los Angeles.
“There’s no change in the strategy. Our strategy is to give our members exclusive first-run movies on Netflix,” Sarandos said in the streamer’s third-quarter earnings call last month when asked if the $19 million that “KPop Demon Hunters” scored in theatrical release might convince them to rethink their stance. “We occasionally release certain films in theaters for our fans, like we did with ‘KPop Demon Hunters,’ or as part of our launch strategy, publicity, marketing, qualification, all those things, and we’ll continue to do that.”
2026 brings two firsts for Netflix and theaters: The series finale of “Stranger Things” will be released in theaters at the same time it hits Netflix, and Greta Gerwig’s “Narnia” movie will be Netflix’s first to score an IMAX release after prolonged negotiations between the “Barbie” filmmaker and the streamer.
Cregger’s New Line horror epic “Weapons,” about a classroom full of kids who mysteriously vanish, was released in theaters this summer to wildly positive reviews and buzz that propelled it to $267 million at the worldwide box office — a feat considering it’s an original concept.
On the heels of that success, interest has been high in what Cregger might tackle next. For now that’s “Resident Evil,” a unique spin on the video game franchise for Sony Pictures. But the filmmaker has teased several original ideas and even a “Weapons” prequel as potential future projects. Including, yes, “The Flood.”
