“Cinema doors have been open to movies on Netflix for years,” said John Fithian, head of the National Association of Theater Owners (NATO), the national association of cinema owners in the United States.
The person who also organized the CinemaCon festival in Las Vegas, which is currently taking place, has repeatedly repeated that, contrary to what the threatening birds of the sector want to say, the streaming giant will not cause the loss of cinemas, big screen movies and popcorn.
Now that the industry is beginning to recover from the blows caused by the pandemic and that Netflix has only experienced its first loss of subscribers in over a decade, theaters can help the platform adapt to an uncertain environment. future, Mr Fithian insisted.
Put movies in theaters first, a possible way?
He said he had lots of talk with Netflix Chief Content Officer Ted Sarandos for encourage him to try to see if they also can’t do well in theaters.
I don’t care about the stock price in one way or another. I’m just looking at the stats … Even if you stream, you’ll earn more if you show your best movies in theaters first.he says.
Release movies on the big screen before making them available to people who subscribe to the service? The idea seems to be the opposite of the business model chosen by Netflix, which major studios like Disney and Warner have forcefully tried to emulate in recent years by launching their own streaming platforms.
After renting DVDs by post, Netflix transformed the entertainment market by digging up billions of Hollywood stars and talent to make movies and series to watch at home.
But the net loss of 200,000 subscribers in the first quarter announced last week hit Wall Street, where Netflix shares fell 30%.
The platform, which expects a drop of two million subscribers in the second quarter, has already announced the implementation of new strategies to curb the phenomenon, including previously unimaginable solutions, such as cheaper subscriptions but with advertising.
A practice deadaccording to John Fithian
At this point, releasing Netflix movies in theaters before their appearance on the platform would no longer be so absurd.
John Fithian even took the pomp this week to announce that the trend of putting movies simultaneously in theaters and on online platforms on the same day, which was inaugurated during the pandemic, was dead.
It didn’t come from where. I said that after consulting with many of our studio partnershe told AFP.
So far, the platform has been content to show its films in a small number of theaters to meet the rules of the Oscars and other film awards.
But John Fithian imagine that the Netflix model could evolve towards a higher presence in theaters. We hope sounderline the president of the organization, which claims to represent about 35,000 screens in the United States.
A theater show allows a movie to be more beautiful while the studios go straight to streaming disappearhe begged.
Back to a window of exclusivity for cinemas
Las Vegas cinema bosses were in a noticeably better mood than at the previous CinemaCon in August 2021, when the latest variant of COVID-19 scared viewers and studios to go beyond theaters to direct their films. to be broadcast.
Major U.S. studios recently announced that they would return to a window of exclusivity for movies in theaters, although they reduced that period to 45 days from about 90 before the pandemic.
Despite this improvement and the outstretched hand on Netflix, theaters still have reason to worry.
Concerns with theaters around Amazon Prime
John Fithian said to himself very worried from another streaming giant, Amazon Prime. According to him, the economic model of this platform is not make money on movies but rather to attract customers to be there shop and go through its delivery service. Amazon Prime acquired MGM studios for 8.45 billion US dollars, which notably produces the James Bond franchise.
If Amazon Prime wants to remove movies from theaters to distribute them at home only, they reduce consumer choice and competitionJohn Fithian grieved
For its part, Apple TV+ last month became the first video-on-demand service to win the highest Oscar for best feature film for CODA : heart in music (CODA).
A cinematic year is judged simply so weird by Mr. Fithian.
Source: Radio-Canada
