Ever since Netflix started producing its own movies, the culture war between SVOD platforms and historical studios has been raging. Once the last form of entertainment – popular and sacred – the cinema should gradually give way to the production available exclusively via streaming. Not content with disrupting the television sector, Netflix has entered the realm of the seventh art by recruiting stars to bring these cinematic offerings to life.
The platform can be proud to have established major partnershipsfrom Martin Scorsese to David Lynch via Alfonso Cuaron. If these releases were more often accompanied by a short run in the cinemas, it was with the objective of promoting its catalog to film fans that the company Ted Sarandos worked. The co-CEO of the company Los Gatos spoke about this subject in a long interview with The New York Times. According to him, barbie (1.4 billion) And Oppenheimer (951 million) would have done just as much on Netflix.
“They would undoubtedly benefit from such a large audience on Netflix. I think there is no reason to believe that certain types of films work or not. There is no reason to believe that a film is better depending on the size of the screen.
Theatrical experience under threat?
Netflix does not want to become the second knife in film entertainment. But does the platform have what it takes to make people forget about dark rooms? The pandemic has changed the way people entertain themselves. The closing of cinemas in the world and the restrictions were in favor of streaming platforms that saw their number of subscribers grow exponentially. In 2020, subscriptions to Netflix, Disney + and others have reached new heights. At the same time, the iconic companies of classic cinema tried SVoD and offered some of their films in double broadcast. In 2022, when the return to normal has been achieved, the global box office was down 35% compared to the period 2017-2019.
If the red N paid the price of success the same year – the company lost subscribers for the first time in ten years – it must be recognized that it is now an essential player in the cultural economy. It is a giant that worries as much as it fascinates. Since then, scholars and producers have been striving remember the importance of the big screen. Just a look at the road Dune: Part Two was promoted to appear as on the strength of this argument. dune – like many other films before – done the idea of an unparalleled spectacle in dark rooms his spearhead. Well aided by the technologies made available to exhibitors, iconic studios increasingly rely on the promise of visual and sonic richness to convince reluctant spectators.
And it works Oppenheimer And Dune: Part Two is one of the biggest recent hits with Avatar: The Way of Water. All stood out for the change of scenery they provided, all stayed recommended for the technologies they use and their scale. But Netflix could easily argue that its recent science fiction proposals also had the ambition to transport viewers to another universe, to rely on cutting-edge technologies to bring great entertainment. The most telling example is without a doubt diptych Rebel Moonimagined to tease Star Wars And dune as for martial arts movies.
A matter of money
Subscription plans have also changed the relationship between products and money. For a handful of euros per month, Netflix users and their competitors can access a catalog of several thousand hours. At the same time, the price of cinema tickets became more expensive and the appetite of spectators was aggravated by a much denser offer on demand than in cinemas. Financial data is often discussed after a session, Is the film worth what the viewer spent?
More generally, the platforms also seem to be establishing themselves as ideal exit door for studios when failure rears its ugly head. This was the case for House Street, which went from an action film reserved for cinema insiders to a real hit with audiences on Prime Video. Although MGM’s investment would no doubt be amortized by an exclusive cinema exhibition, the arrival of the film directly in the catalog of the platform gave an unexpected impact.
Elsewhere, streaming platforms can also be a way limit damages in case of a flop at the cinema. Since the pandemic, many studios have used the shelves of their SVOD offerings to avoid a disaster. Some films thus benefit from a limited exclusivity on the big screen and are invited to theaters around the world (or almost). If the timeline of the French media prevents such an operation in France, it has already been applied in the United States to The Fall Guy, Madame Web o The Flash. More generally, we have observed a trend on streaming platforms for several years. Famous flops are given a second lease of life in streaming: Morbius o Valerian and the city of a thousand planets.
Netflix therefore does not seem ready to fully invest in cinemas, preferring to limit itself to its shelves. The company has undoubtedly learned from the mistakes of its competitors such as Apple TV +. The company did not did not achieve the expected success with his triad Killers of the Flower Moon, Napoleon And Argyle. Rather than a limited cinema release, the Cupertino company had opted for exclusivity in cinemas before being available via streaming. But the public was not there, despite the aura of the filmmakers recruited for the occasion. However, all three films did very well on streaming.
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