Netflix’s opposition to theatrical releases and the movie theater business has been well documented, and it is about as positive as a Demogorgon ripping through your bedroom wall.
CEO Ted Sarandos previously called the communal experience one gets from seeing a new or classic film in a movie theater “an outmoded idea.”
My question for Mr. Sarandos is: do you understand that you are in show business (with the emphasis on “business”)?
Even if Sarandos is philosophically opposed to movie theaters, are his Netflix stock holders opposed to higher stock prices and free money?
Have you tried to get a good seat to the Stranger Things finale on the big screen in your area? Guess what? Even with Avatar: Fire and Ash eating up cash faster than a hungry Banshee, the two-day theatrical window for the finale is a bonanza, which is sure to please at least the Duffer Brothers, theater chains, and the legions of fans who actually want to see it with a crowd on New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day.
“People don’t get to experience how much time and effort is spent on sound and picture, and they’re seeing it at reduced quality,” writer-director Matt Duffer told Variety. “More than that, it’s about experiencing it at the same time with fans.”
Netflix’s chief content officer Bela Bajaria would disagree. Bajaria also told Variety, “A lot of people—a lot, a lot, a lot of people—have watched Stranger Things on Netflix. It has not suffered from lack of conversation or community or sharing or fandom. I think releasing it on Netflix is giving the fans what they want.”
Well, yes, some fans want to watch it the way they always have, and some fans (like those who turned out for a theatrical release of KPop Demon Hunters in the fall, two months after the animated film debuted on Netflix) want the live experience.
What these corporate types don’t understand is that there are some people that never go to the movies. A lot of these same people also rarely watch movies at home or have streaming services.
You know who still turns out to see movies in theaters? Young people, who you might also refer to as your consumers. No one is not going to subscribe to Netflix because Stranger Things is in theaters for two days. Fans have grown up watching the series on Netflix, and will continue to watch the series for years to come on the streaming service. Netflix doesn’t lose one dollar by putting the finale on the silver screen, which is what fans want.
It was also obviously what the Duffer Brothers wanted, and why they jumped shipped to Paramount recently, due to the promise by Paramount that they would be happy to screen their new content in theaters. Film makers are film fans and want the theater experience.
Netflix: You can have your cake and eat it too. Who wouldn’t want to sell the same product to the same customers twice? And they aren’t going to feel scammed; they are going to thank you for the privilege.
Sarandos is a tough nut to crack, however. In the same interview with Variety, the boss said that going to theaters is not easy because people have to drive there. “I think it is — for most people, not for everybody. If you’re fortunate to live enough in Manhattan, and you can walk to a multiplex and see a movie, that’s fantastic. Most of the country cannot.”
Yes, Mr. Sarandos, people need to drive to most places in America.
And the biggest Stranger Things fans will be driving to their local theaters over the course of two days to celebrate the end of the series that saved Netflix.
