Ted Sarandos Screams "Fire!" at the Movie Theaters
Ethan Shanfeld
I'm starting to get the feeling that Ted Sarandos might not be lying when he (constantly) says he doesn't want the job as CEO of Disney:
“Netflix is a very consumer-focused company,” Sarandos said. “We really do care that we deliver the program to you in a way you want to watch it.”
Using the struggling global box office as an example, Sarandos added, “What does that say? What is the consumer trying to tell us? That they’d like to watch movies at home, thank you. The studios and the theaters are duking it out over trying to preserve this 45-day window that is completely out of step with the consumer experience of just loving a movie.”
On one hand, I agree with his high-level assessment, obviously. Putting in place completely arbitrary and restrictive windows to try to artificially boost box office numbers is not exactly consumer friendly. Yes, it's filmmaker friendly. And sure, you can argue that it's a "better" way to experience a film. But if you let the actual audience decide, well, they've spoken. Netflix is now a $400B company, perhaps on its way to a $1T company. What other movie studio can say that? None. Disney's market cap? $163B.
On the other hand, there's no way you could dare say such a thing and have a job running any major movie studio – yes, even in 2025 – besides Netflix.
He then doubled – and then tripled down:
Sarandos also noted that “we’re in a period of transition,” saying, “Folks grew up thinking, ‘I want to make movies on a gigantic screen and have strangers watch them [and to have them] play in the theater for two months and people cry and sold-out shows … It’s an outdated concept.”
Asked specifically if the desire of filmmakers wanting to make movies “for movie theaters, for the communal experience” is “an outmoded idea,” Sarandos said, “I think it is — for most people, not for everybody. If you’re fortunate to live enough in Manhattan, and you can walk to a multiplex and see a movie, that’s fantastic. Most of the country cannot.”
Forget the CEO job of Disney, Sarandos may end up as auteur enemy number one with these comments.
But again, he's not exactly wrong, he's just saying the very quiet part – the very triggering quiet part in Hollywood – out loud. And that does include the notion that most of America – let alone most of the world – doesn't live in an environment where you just walk over to the local cinema. This isn't the 1950s anymore where that's the greatest and most obvious form of entertainment (and perhaps air conditioning). These days, it's just a bigger screen. And in many cases in many theaters, the screen isn't even that much bigger than what you'd get at home.
As for the communal element? Sure, that's interesting for certain types of movies. But not all types. And it was borne out of that earlier era's necessities, not some vision handed down from up high.
Sarandos insisted that he loves movie theaters, but, of course, their decline does not “bother” him. Instead, he said he would be bothered if “people stop making great movies.”
He warned Hollywood not to get “trapped” behind wanting audiences to see movies in theaters because that’s how the film industry wants audiences to watch them. Instead, for the sake of the entertainment business, Hollywood should adapt to the way in which audiences want to watch movies, Sarandos argued.
Again, this is a fair point and criticism that it feels like Hollywood needs to hear and think about. I'm just sort of surprised to hear him saying it out loud given that Netflix clearly wants to work with the best directors in the world. Someone like Denis Villeneuve will not like reading such comments! (Not that he was going to make a Netflix movie anyway...)
But as his and Christopher Nolan's generation yields to the next generation of auteurs, do we think they'll have a different stance on theatrical, given that they may have grown up largely watching movies in a different manner? It's worth thinking about – right now – is all I'm saying.
Sarandos is also saying all of this even though Netflix owns a couple theaters themselves. But that was to save those cinemas – and to give Netflix an easy way to screen films to help ensure they meet certain (also completely arbitrary) rules around awards contention:
“We have these bespoke releases … we have to do some qualification for the Oscars,” Sarandos said. “They have to run for a little bit, it helps with the press cycle a little bit. But I’ve tried to encourage every director we work with to focus on the consumer, focus on the fans. Make a movie that they love, and they will reward you.”
I still believe that despite Sarandos' comments here, Netflix will dive deeper into theatrical over time. At first because the talent demands it, but eventually because they realize how truly powerful it is as a marketing channel – for very specific types of films. They know this already, of course. But they're trying to ignore it to look out at the longer term horizon, per all of the above. I don't think it's that simple. Yet.
M.G. Siegler
M.G. Siegler
M.G. Siegler
M.G. Siegler
M.G. Siegler