Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos believes cinemas provide a “special” experience — but he’s sure glad they’re not the only way to watch movies.
Sarandos said on SiriusXM show “What a Joke with Tom and Fortune” (on Netflix Is a Joke Radio) that it is better to have numerous ways to both consume and present a movie, rather just solely relying on theaters.
“From the beginning of television, attendance to movie theaters began to drop, and it’s dropped every year since the ’60s. It mostly stays even because the ticket prices go up. By the way, this is not a slam on what it is, it’s just that’s the way you did it. That’s the way. And then technology evolves,” Sarandos told hosts Tom Papa and Fortune Feimster. “Behaviors evolve. Consumer behavior changes. I do think there’s something very special about it, but thank God it’s not the only way I can see a movie.”
He added, “And again, back to that, serving underserved audiences. Most people don’t live anywhere near a movie theater. So this idea, and an interesting fact is that the average American consumer sees two movies a year in a movie theater. The average Netflix member watches seven movies a month.”
Sarandos, whose streaming platform and studio famously does not release films theatrically (aside from the mandatory awards season two-week stint for eligibility), also spoke about working with auteurs who champion theaters.
“I talk to a lot of directors and I totally respect that they, a lot of them grew up and this was their dream, to have the gigantic screen and a room full of strangers,” Sarandos said. “All those things are all… it’s just, it’s a very tough business model anymore. And I just feel like, I hope it is always around as an option. I just think it will be more and more challenging.”
Greta Gerwig’s upcoming Netflix movie “The Chronicles of Narnia” is getting an unprecedented IMAX release. Netflix will distribute the tentpole exclusively on at least 1,000 international IMAX screens one month ahead of the film‘s streaming premiere, Christmas Day 2026. After 2-3 weeks on IMAX screens, based on IMAX’s discretionary extension, Netflix has the option to debut “Narnia” in regular, non-IMAX theaters.
The third “Knives Out” film, “Wake Up Dead Man,” is hoping for the same deal. Franchise actor Daniel Craig told Variety that he wants the film to be released in theaters.
“Hopefully, Netflix will push it out a bit, and people will get to see it. The people I speak to — the fans, I suppose — all they want to do is take their families and go see it at the cinemas,” Craig said. “That’s all they want to do. Hopefully we can give them that experience.”
The first “Knives Out” film was released by Lionsgate in 2019 and became a box-office hit. Netflix then made a deal with writer/director Rian Johnson to produce two sequels for the platform. The first follow-up, 2022’s “Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery,” made history at the time as the widest release ever for Netflix, and was the first Netflix movie to screen in AMC and Regal locations.
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