The streamer’s co-CEO Ted Sarandos is now promising 45-day windows for Warner Bros.’ films should its acquisition be completed.<\/b>
\nNetflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos repeated his new pledge to give Warner Bros. movies a 45-day theatrical window, adding that the company had debated \u201cmany times\u201d over whether to get into the theatrical business prior to its tentative acquisition deal for the century-old Hollywood studio.
\u201cWe have often, in our Netflix history, debated building that theatrical business, but we were busy investing in other areas, and it never made our priority cut,\u201d Sarandos told financial analysts. \u201cBut now with Warner Bros., they bring a mature, well-run theatrical business with amazing films, and we\u2019re super excited about that addition.\u201d
Sarandos first hinted at his new openness to a 45-day window \u2014 something that theater trade org Cinema United has called all studios to adapt \u2014 in an interview with the New York Times this past Friday. This came after Sarandos previously suggested in December that while Netflix would keep Warner films in theaters, it would look into shorter theatrical windows on the basis that they would be more \u201cconsumer friendly.\u201d
\u201cWe will run that business largely like it is today, with 45-day windows. I\u2019m giving you a hard number,\u201d Sarandos told the Times. \u201cWhen this deal closes, we will own a theatrical distribution engine that is phenomenal and produces billions of dollars of theatrical revenue that we don\u2019t want to put at risk. If we\u2019re going to be in the theatrical business, and we are, we\u2019re competitive people \u2014 we want to win. I want to win opening weekend. I want to win box office.\u201d
When asked during Tuesday\u2019s call about the change in his public stance towards theatrical strategy, Sarandos said that Netflix was \u201cnot in the theatrical business when I made those observations.\u201d
\u201cWhen this deal closes, we will be in the theatrical business. And remember this, I\u2019ve said it many times. This is a business, not religion. So conditions change and insights change, and we have a culture that will reevaluate things when they do,\u201d he said.
But if Netflix does indeed continue Warner\u2019s theatrical strategy, it will have to convince an exhibition industry that is deeply skeptical of such commitments. Hours after Warner Bros. selected Netflix\u2019s acquisition bid, Cinema United released a statement staunchly opposing the deal, calling it an \u201cunprecedented threat\u201d to theaters.
Cinema United then repeated those warnings in a letter to a House antitrust subcommittee earlier this month, saying that any acquisition of Warner by a major competitor, whether it is Netflix or top acquisition rival Paramount Skydance, would be a danger to movie theaters.
\u201cWe must heed the lessons of the past: further industry consolidation has consistently led to fewer movies being made, and there is no reason whatsoever to believe the outcome here would be any different, particularly given Netflix\u2019s stated views of movie theatres over the past decade-plus,\u201d the letter read.
Two movie theater chain executives who spoke to TheWrap anonymously over the weekend cited those past views when they expressed skepticism over Sarandos\u2019 pivot on windowing strategy, as well as past promises made by studios amidst a wave of consolidation that has gripped Hollywood.
\u201cDisney promised they would not cut down on the number of movies Fox was putting out when they bought that studio, and then they did cut down,\u201d said one exec. \u201cThey will say whatever they need to say to get the deal done.\u201d<\/p>\n