{"id":665727,"date":"2026-03-19T01:29:13","date_gmt":"2026-03-19T01:29:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/665727\/"},"modified":"2026-03-19T01:29:13","modified_gmt":"2026-03-19T01:29:13","slug":"netflix-film-boss-streamers-theatrical-future-give-us-some-time","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/665727\/","title":{"rendered":"Netflix Film Boss Streamer’s Theatrical Future: “Give Us Some Time”"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n\tIn Netflix<\/a>\u2018s pursuit of Warner Bros, Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos came to promise that he\u2019d honor a 45-day exclusive window to Premium VOD for the studio\u2019s titles. This was after enormous pressure from the industry and media who scrutinized the executive and the streamer given their history for crunching the window for titles between their theatrical play and ultimate debut on Netflix.<\/p>\n

\n\tSo what now, Netflix, when it comes to theatrical? Is it still in the cards after all of Ted\u2019s talk? The streamer has two big titles on its 2026 slate that make perfect wide theatrical releases, and theaters coast-to-coast would want \u2019em: David Fincher\u2019s Once Upon a Time in Hollywood sequel The Adventures of Cliff Booth<\/a>, dropping in August, and Greta Gerwig\u2019s Narnia<\/a>, which is already getting a two-week Imax (limited) release on Thanksgiving, November 26, in 1,000 auditoriums in 90 countries.<\/p>\n

\n\tAt today\u2019s Next on Netflix press event, Chief Content Officer Bela Bajaria made a distinction: \u201cThere is Warner Bros theatrical distribution, and then there\u2019s Netflix, which we\u2019ve been in a different business. I don\u2019t want you to conflate the two. Ted was talking about Warner Bros being in a different business than what Netflix is in.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tNetflix Film Chairman Dan Lin<\/a> responded after Bajaria, \u201cI would say give us some time.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cThe Warner Bros deal just ended as far as our participations and we had the Academy Awards,\u201d he said. \u201cWe are a streaming-first company. The strategy works really well for us. You can see our members watch seven movies a month. You can see through the Warner process, we built a closer relationship with theater owners, we had a lot of discussions \u2014 just give us some time.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tThe executives are well aware how theatrical has propped the event-izing of Netflix\u2019s TV titles, fueling fandom and community: The Stranger Things series finale in theaters on New Year\u2019s Day did more than $25 million (in concession revenue because the streamer couldn\u2019t charge for tickets); KPop Demon Hunters Singalong at the end of August minted a two-day take of $19M, Netflix\u2019s first No. 1 at the weekend box office; and the placement of Season 2 episodes of One Piece in 200 theaters in U.S. and Japan.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cWe\u2019re looking to do special things in theatrical,\u201d said Lin, \u201cbut just give us some time.\u201d <\/p>\n

\n\tWhen asked by another reporter if Netflix execs are concerned about their competitors who can offer theatrical, Lin answered, \u201cWe\u2019re happy with the filmmakers we have now,\u201d giving shout-outs to Clint Bentley, Guillermo del Toro and Fincher.<\/p>\n

\n\tOverall, he\u2019s not scared: \u201cI think competition is a good thing \u2026 I think we\u2019ll be even better because we have that competition, it makes us hungrier, sharper, so we\u2019re not afraid of the competition.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tIn regards to whether Netflix\u2019s purchases are slowing down out of festivals, Lin said, \u201cWe have a balance of both. We want to build some movies that have prestige, but acquire some as well.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cWe\u2019re actively going to festivals,\u201d said Lin. <\/p>\n

\n\tBajaria emphasized at the top of today\u2019s event that the streamer is committing to a content budget this year of $20 billion, which is good for jobs, and good for the film and TV business overall.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"In Netflix\u2018s pursuit of Warner Bros, Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos came to promise that he\u2019d honor a 45-day…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":665728,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[28],"tags":[281630,171,53,281631,4659,87958,67,132,68],"class_list":["post-665727","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-movies","tag-dan-lin","tag-entertainment","tag-movies","tag-narnia","tag-netflix","tag-the-adventures-of-cliff-booth","tag-united-states","tag-unitedstates","tag-us"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/116253253227803566","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/665727","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=665727"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/665727\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/665728"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=665727"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=665727"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=665727"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}