Netflix has been a pretty big game-changer in the world of television: original programmes HOUSE OF CARDS, ORANGE IS THE NEW BLACK and HEMLOCK GROVE completely overhauled the way we consumed TV, offering up an entire series at a time without having to wait a week or more for each episode.
And while Netflix is usually praised more for its selection of TV shows than movies, it’s no surprise that the streaming giant is looking to shake up the world of film distribution by financing and producing its own feature length pictures. Netflix exec Ted Sarandos talked about the company’s new direction at Film Independent over the weekend:
“What we’re trying to do for TV, the model should extend pretty nicely to movies. Meaning, why not premiere movies on Netflix, the same day they’re opening in theaters?”
This model is not unheard of – as recently as July, Ben Wheatley’s A FIELD IN ENGLAND was the first UK film to be released in cinemas, on TV and DVD, and through video-on-demand services at the same time. With cinema ticket prices ever on the rise, Netflix will be looking to cash in on the fact that people don’t want to spend their holiday fund on a family trip to the cinema. But it will take more than minor independent films to bring that about, as Sarandos notes:
“…not little movies — there’s a lot of ways, and a lot of people to do that [already]. Why not big movies? Why not follow the consumers’ desire to watch things when they want?”
Ambitious words indeed, particularly considering how few recent blockbusters Netflix has in its library already. But original content might just be the solution it needs to evolve in the future, and hey, it paid off with TV, didn’t it?
Of course, there’s always the argument that people go to the cinema because they want the cinematic experience, and they’ll still go even if a film is premiering simultaneously on Netflix (every writer on this site probably falls into that category, for instance). But the wider adoption of the simulcast model will at least offer choice, and if you don’t like choice, then you’re probably not a big fan of democracy either, so… way to go, you.
Fancy seeing Netflix try its hand at movies? Let us know in the comments!
Source: First Showing
Max
Oct 31, 2013 at 6:55 pm
That is not a good idea at all…
Cinema attendance would plummet, as would movie profits. The movie industry would suffer. If they did a pay-per-view thing i could see it working tho.
But really it just feels cheap. A movie in theatres is an event and i think this model would make a cinema experience feel less special.