Netflix Is 'Saving Hollywood,' CEO Considers Going to the Theater 'An Outmoded Idea for Most People'

Netflix CEO Ted Sarandos has claimed that the streamer is “saving Hollywood,” and believes theatergoing is "an outmoded thought for astir people."

At the Time100 Summit this week, Sarandos was adamant that, contempt accumulation leaving Los Angeles successful droves, the drastic downsizing of the theatrical window, the accelerated deterioration of the theatrical acquisition from an assemblage perspective, and middling container bureau returns for a fig of films, Netflix is the achromatic nighttime of the industry. “No, we’re redeeming Hollywood,” helium explained to the assemblage astatine the convention, adding that the streamer is “a precise consumer-focused company.”

He added: “We present the programme to you successful a mode you privation to ticker it.”

Sarandos besides commented connected the downturn of container bureau sales. “What is the user trying to archer us?” helium asked rhetorically. “That they’d similar to ticker movies astatine home.” Interestingly enough, helium besides made definite to showcase his emotion for going to the theater, but not without besides downplaying the acquisition connected the whole. “I judge it is an outmoded idea, for astir people,” helium said. “Not for everybody.”

It should travel arsenic nary astonishment that the CEO of the streaming work to extremity each streaming services would clasp these kinds of opinions. After all, it’s successful the company’s champion involvement to propulsion streaming supra cinemagoing.

Hollywood's struggles are well-documented. Family movies similar Inside Out 2 and video crippled adaptations similar A Minecraft Movie look to beryllium propping up the business, with adjacent Marvel movies, erstwhile guarateed cardinal dollar blockbusters, present deed and miss.

But is going to the cinema present old-fashioned? Last year, legendary histrion Willem Dafoe said radical ticker films otherwise now, astatine home, alternatively than astatine the cinemas, which are closing down. “Which is tragic, due to the fact that the benignant of attraction that radical springiness astatine location isn’t the same,” Dafoe said.

“More hard movies, much challenging movies tin not bash arsenic well, erstwhile you don’t person an assemblage that’s truly paying attention. That’s a large thing. I miss the societal happening of wherever movies acceptable successful the world. You spell spot a movie, you spell retired to dinner, you speech astir it later, and that spreads out. People present spell home, they say, ‘Hey, honey, let’s ticker thing anserine tonight,’ and they flip done and they ticker 5 minutes of 10 movies, and they say, hide it, let’s spell to bed. Where’s that sermon found?”

Back successful 2022, acclaimed filmmaker Steven Soderbergh shared his thoughts connected the aboriginal of movie theaters and however cinema habits could proceed to unrecorded connected successful the property of streaming. He said that portion there's "still an appeal," the industry's aboriginal lies successful convincing young audiences to support attending arsenic they turn older.

Soderbergh, who is known for his Ocean's Eleven bid amongst galore different Hollywood hits, considered however movie theaters and streaming services tin proceed to coexist. He identified programming and engagement arsenic 2 cardinal areas that request cautious information successful bid to support the cinema-going acquisition alive.

"I deliberation radical inactive privation to spell out," Soderbergh said, acknowledging the reasons down taking a travel to the container office. "There's inactive an entreaty to seeing a movie successful a movie theater. It's inactive a large destination. And it truly depends, I think, connected our quality to attract, to person the older audiences to proceed to travel retired [...] It has thing to bash with windowing [the word for the magnitude of clip near betwixt theatre and location releases]."

Photo by Ashish Vaishnav/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images.

Lex Briscuso is simply a movie and tv professional and a freelance amusement writer for IGN. You tin travel her connected Twitter astatine @nikonamerica.