BIG FAN OF House of Cards and Orange Is the New Black? The Netflix original series’ have been hugely popular among subscribers and critics alike.
But now, according to All Things D, the TV subscription service have movies in their sights.
The idea would be that the self-funded movie would be released traditionally, as in, you could go to see it in the cinema, but there would also be the option to watch it from the sofa through your Netflix account.
The company have already announced a foray into documentaries and stand-up comedy specials, but now blockbusters are on the cards.
Content boss Ted Sarandos, speaking at the company’s earnings call last week, told investors to “keep [their] mind wide open to what those films would be and what they would look like.”
He also spoke at Film Independent Forum in LA about plans to deliver other studio’s content in the same way as their distributed series’.
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 theatres? And not little movies, there’s a lot of ways, and lot of people to do that. Why not big movies? Why not follow the consumers’ desire to watch things when they want?
Sarandos went on to say:
I don’t blame the studios for what they’re doing, and I don’t fault them, because the studios are always trying to innovate. The premium video-on-demand model has been tried and tried, and theatre owners stifle this kind of innovation at every turn.
However, due to this stifling of innovation, the vision seems unlikely unless Netflix are willing to pay Hollywood millions for rights to the movies before they hit the big screen.
John Fithian, president of the National Association of Theatre Owners told Deadline that:
The only business that would be helped by [same-day] release to Netflix is Netflix.
Until then, check out our series recommendations to binge on Netflix.
