You could practically hear the champagne bottles getting uncorked at the headquarters of all the biggest movie theaters when a Bloomberg report emerged that Apple was planning to spend $1 billion or more annually to bring Apple TV+ original movies to the big screen. This news wasn’t exactly a shock, given that Apple had previously committed to traditional theatrical releases for some of its titles. Killer of the Flower Moon, for instance, has long been set up as an Apple movie that Paramount Pictures would release in theaters while George Clooney and Brad Pitt took pay cuts to guarantee that their movie Wolves would get a normal big-screen run.

Still, the news that Apple was looking to deliver lots of big-screen releases over an extended period of time was welcome news to theatrical exhibitors. This news comes on the heels of Amazon Studios announcing a similar costly commitment to sending movies like Air to theaters, while specialty streamers like Shudder and Mubi have always embraced sending their titles to multiplexes first before they drop online. It’s now becoming the norm for streamers to give their original movies theatrical runs before they land on their respective services…except for Netflix. Even with Apple TV+ and Amazon making major commitments to theaters, Netflix is outright hostile to exhibitors and the idea of cooperation.

Netflix’s History with Theatrical Releases

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Image via Netflix

There was a time when Netflix was content to let its movies run in theaters initially, albeit with way smaller titles than the ones it produces today. Back in 2006, in an age when Netflix was only known for delivering DVDs through the mail, Netflix started the production company Red Envelope Entertainment. Whereas today Netflix finances movies that cost over $200 million, Red Envelope Entertainment was a smaller operation that saw Netflix either acquiring movies after they debuted at film festivals or coming onboard to foreign-language titles (such as 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days) that other indie studios were distributing. The operation didn’t yield much in the way of lucrative results for Netflix and Red Envelope Entertainment was quickly shuttered.

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The next time Netflix got into original movies, the company would have way more control over its output. This control would extend to where and how its movies premiered. By the time Netflix returned to delivering exclusive motion pictures in the mid-2010s, Netflix was now a streaming service first and foremost. When Beasts of No Nation was announced as the first major original Netflix movie, it came with the reveal that it would debut on streaming the same day it premiered in theaters. A then-unprecedented move, all major theater chains announced they would not be screening Beasts of No Nation. Whereas the Red Envelope Entertainment titles adhered to classic release strategies for new movies, this era of Netflix cinema would be going a much bolder route that alienated movie theaters.

For the next few years afterward, Netflix and movie theaters remained at odds with one another. Movie theaters had a strict schedule that said normal theatrical releases had to wait 90 days until after their theatrical debuts to hit streaming. Netflix only slightly adjusted its release plans in the years that followed by dropping its films in theaters one or two weeks before their streaming premiere. That was nowhere near enough to garner favor with movie theater owners. A potential normal theatrical release for The Irishman in 2019 was even dashed by Netflix’s refusal to cooperate with these norms. Netflix’s behavior towards movie theaters is obvious…why the company is like this, that’s a bit more complicated.

Why Is Netflix Against Movie Theaters?

Daniel Craig as Benoit Blanc in Glass Onion a Knives Out Mystery
Image via Netflix

The simple answer here is that Netflix loves to innovate things. It’s a trait associated with lots of Silicon Valley companies. With Netflix’s DVD-by-mail practice, this corporation gave a hard blow to brick-and-mortar video rental places. Original streaming programming, meanwhile totally upended the entire world of television. When it came time for Netflix’s original movies, it was inevitable that the company would be angling to play by its own rules once again. For Netflix executives, an ideal outcome would be that Netflix’s movies would prove so popular that movie theater chains would have to change their ways, rather than this streamer changing for Cinemark or AMC.

Netflix got its way on that one…kind of. Most other major media companies got onto the streaming bandwagon, which gave extra initiative for movie theater chains to drastically whittle down how long a movie had to play exclusively in theaters before it could also be available at home. Simultaneous streaming and theatrical launches have been scarce since the start of 2022, but they have happened before while certain studios (like Universal) can send their projects to premium video-on-demand retailers as soon as 17 days later. Things have shifted enough for Netflix and the major theater owners to all work to play Glass Onion for one week over Thanksgiving. Meanwhile, Bardo also played at most major movie theater chains while Cinemark regularly plays new Netflix titles.

Netflix sticking to its guns on release strategies did inspire some changes, but it still hasn’t gotten Netflix to commit to more major theatrical releases or for titles like Glass Onion to play in theaters for more than seven days. This can be traced back to Netflix CEOs openly talking about how they don’t see theatrical revenue as important. Their only focus is on getting people to watch their service in the comfort of their own homes. Granted, the shockingly consistent failure on Netflix’s part to turn most of their commercial movie offerings into big pop culture sensations like their original TV shows should indicate that something needs to change in how they deliver movies to the world. But Netflix’s focus on at-home entertainment has worked in other areas of the company so this approach to movies continues.

There’s also the fact that, for the biggest actors and directors involved in a Netflix release, a straight-to-streaming bow can be a lucrative enterprise. With no box office percentages to dish out nor long-term revenue streams like cable TV airings on the horizon, Netflix has to pay off actors like Will Smith or Ryan Reynolds hefty sums right up front. With so much money around, these big actors and directors don’t have much incentive to champion their titles as needing a theatrical release. Without industry pressure to change how it releases movies, Netflix has gotten really comfortable with just tossing off mega-budgeted titles onto the streamer without any promotion.

Similarly, the Academy Awards will allow Netflix movies to compete for Oscars so long as they play in some movie theaters prior to dropping onto the service. Netflix just has to rent out a few theaters in New York and Los Angeles and projects like The Land of Steady Habits qualify for Oscar gold. Once again, the film industry itself makes it easy for Netflix to see streaming-focused release methods for movies as an easy choice to make. Between that and the fact that going the “innovative” route has benefited other parts of the company, Netflix executives must see it as a no-brainer to forego movie theaters as the home for its movies.

Don’t Expect Netflix’s Approach to Change Anytime Soon

Ana de Armas in The Gray Man
Image via Netflix

Netflix is in a weird spot with its movies. Years of trying and countless millions of dollars spent on promotional campaigns have still never gotten the studio a movie that could win the Best Picture Oscar, even if films like Roma and All Quiet on the Western Front have come close. Meanwhile, titles like The Gray Man and The Adam Project that were meant to spawn massive fanbases have faded away from the public consciousness. It’s not like every single Netflix title has been a colossal dud. However, the sheer magnitude of the popularity of recent Netflix shows Wednesday and Monster have only reinforced how little impact Netflix’s various motion pictures have left on the broader culture. Does anyone care about Bright or The Week Of years after their release? If you said the words “Me Time” to somebody, would they even know what you’re talking about?

Netflix original movies could desperately use an extra boost in publicity. Embracing a format of releasing movies that are proven popular and enduring for well over 100 years could be a great way to make sure certain upcoming Netflix titles are more on people’s radar. Unfortunately, Netflix is still the major streaming service with the most subscribers by far, and withholding financial losses and more concrete viewership data on its movies means that it’s difficult to concretely label titles like Project Power typical “flops." With these qualities in its corner, it’s incredibly doubtful Netflix will take cues from Apple TV+ and Amazon and give its projects conventional theatrical releases in the near future.