Earlier this month, movie theater owners across the country were fuming about the first original feature film from Netflix, Beasts of No Nation, saying that they would refuse to play the movie in their theaters.
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According to an interview with Deadline, Netflix boss Ted Sarandos talked about their deal with Cary Fukunga and Beasts of no Nation.
It is rare for Netflix to publicly reveal viewing figures, which means Sarandos’ candour could be a sign of the service’s commitment to this new venture.
“I think [it’s] a bigger audience than any specialty film could ever hope for, in its first two weeks of release, and maybe for its entire run”.
Sarandos noted that Netflix is focusing on making the film available to all 69 million of its subscribers around the world, in more than 50 countries. Lastly, we’re only 11 days out from the film’s release and – since the film isn’t going to be pulled from the service any time soon – there’s far less urgency to see it than there would be with a theatrical release.
Hollywood studios feel the need to produce big budget thrillers to reach theatre audiences, but a sophisticated and challenging movie that doesn’t necessarily have an enormous audience could still reach a large amount of people on a streaming platform, said Posner, who also is a writer for the FX original series “Married”.
Four U.S. theatre chains, unhappy with a simultaneous streaming release, boycotted “Beasts of No Nation” resulting in a disappointing box office performance. And the total viewership numbers remain hidden, as is typical for Netflix.
“If you want to go out and see a movie and sit in a dark room with strangers, it’s not an experience you can replicate at home”, he said.
More importantly for the company, Sarandos says the film has been popular in places like Japan and Brazil, where USA developed indie films are normally not popular in the slightest. Studios have trouble opening those movies in Japan. Rather, “our focus is on the total audience of the film”, he said. All that matters to them is watching a great movie anywhere. “But it is a very good experience, to watch a movie at home in 4k, in the comfort of your living room”.
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But Sarandos told Deadline that Netflix is just giving consumers the choice that they want.
