If you’re a filmmaker partnering with Netflix on a feature film you feel is worthy of a theatrical release, you should shop your ideas to another platform. Not that Netflix doesn’t have its advantages, but the streamer’s films chairman, Dan Lin, says the company is looking to prioritize mid-budget projects and will actively avoid working with directors who insist on their project getting theatrical real estate.
Lin on Netflix’s stance toward theatrical releases
“There is a group of filmmakers who still want theatrical. Those are filmmakers that we’ve accepted we just won’t work with,” Lin told The New York Times in a recent interview, noting that the platform’s forthcoming wide release of Narnia: The Magician’s Nephew from Greta Gerwig is the sole exception to the company’s rule about going theatrical.
“Because I have such a huge slate, my job is very different from other studio chairmen’s jobs,” the executive producer said. “I can’t impose my taste on the slate. But I can impose a way of making movies. I can impose a way of how we want to work with filmmakers. I think people on the outside are pretty clear on what I’m going for: making someone’s favorite movie in a specific genre, focusing on variety and quality and making Netflix the best place for filmmakers to work.”
Why Netflix wants to be a platform-first company
As a streaming service first, I understand why Netflix would want to host its movies on its platform rather than in theaters. Netflix lives and dies by its subscriber base, and if more of its movies go theatrical, that means people aren’t logging in to watch some of the company’s most significant releases. There’s also the matter of budget concerns. Movies cost an enormous amount of money to produce, and there’s never a guarantee that they’re going to hit with audiences. It’s that old risk-reward mentality. Lin wants to focus on producing more comedies, rom-coms, and book adaptations, which Netflix can usually produce on a modest budget compared to blockbuster event films.
The downside to this, of course, is that by ruling out theatrical fare, Netflix risks turning away an innumerable number of high-profile filmmakers who want to work with Netflix but also see their work up on the silver screen. Lin sounds quite adamant about not making any exceptions after Greta Gerwig’s Narnia movie arrives in theaters, but we’ll see where the chips fall in time.
What do you think about Netflix drawing a hard line in the sand about releasing its films in theaters? Does it make a difference to you? Has there ever been a Netflix original that you absolutely must see in the cinema? Let us know in the comments section below.
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