For years it has been Netflix and Chill, but it’s increasingly Netflix and Party.
On Halloween this Friday, Netflix is once again releasing a Sing-a-Long version of its mega hit “KPop Demon Hunters” in theaters, encouraging costumes and trying to bring in even more fans by expanding into more territories and theaters. It’s a repeat of an event Netflix hosted in August that managed to bring in a box office topping $19.2 million. And after a trailer on ThursdayNetflix will show its finale of “Stranger Things” in theaters on New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day.
That has sparked plenty of speculation that maybe, just maybe, Netflix is finally softening its stance on putting movies in theaters. Even if Netflix keeps telling you, no and please, for the love of God, stop asking.
“There is no change in strategy. Our strategy is to give our members exclusive movies from the first time
Netflix,” Netflix Co-CEO Ted Sarandos said just last week during earnings. “We sometimes release certain movies in theaters for our fans like we did with ‘KPop Demon Hunters,’ or as part of our launch strategy, publicity, marketing, qualification, all those things, and we’ll continue to do that.”
Sure, Ted, but what are you doing? really thinking about theaters?
“Behavior evolves. Consumer behavior changes. I think there’s something very special about it, but thankfully it’s not the only way I can see a movie,” Sarandos said in a podcast in February.
But really? Still not sure I believe you.
“I think it’s an outdated idea, for most people, not for everyone,” he said again in April.
Fine, but Netflix said it would never have ads until it did, it would never have sports until it did, and it would never have live stand-up specials or password sharing or stop telling us how many subscribers it had or personal theme parks that inherently put you off watching Netflix… all until it did.
All that said, Netflix still doesn’t do “theatrical distribution.” It will never reach the level of Amazon hope to release 14-16 films in theaters a yearreport checkout numbers and play the fleeting game of success and failure. But it has increased its live events, which drive fan engagement, sign-ups and retention. And, by the way, only some of these events take place Inside cinemas.
What Netflix is good at, more than any other legacy media company, is pivoting and reacting to a hit and capitalizing on what audiences respond to on its platform. Netflix didn’t plan ahead to do live sing-a-long stunts for “KPop Demon Hunters,” but when the film became literally the biggest of all time within weeksit found a way to organize an event and maximize filmthe influence of pop culture.
So rightfully so, why wouldn’t Netflix do more of it? “Adolescence” or “Baby Reindeer” may never work in theaters, but it wouldn’t be a surprise to see an increase from one or two theatrical events a year to a handful more (Netflix had no comment for this story).
The question is, can Netflix beef up its events a bit more and give the award-winning titles that get theatrical releases a bit more of a marketing punch to let audiences know they’re there? Guillermo del Toro recently proclaimed that “Frankenstein” had expanded – “for real” – to more theaters than you probably knew. So can it do more to get asses in the cinema seats and not just make you aware that something is on Netflix?
Enter Greta Gerwig. For her “Narnia” movie, the only way Netflix could make sure it worked with a director of her caliber is to play ball with her desire for theaters. For that movie, it’s splitting the difference between one wider theatrical release and use IMAX to create the feeling that this is a special, limited engagement event. We imagine the marketing tools will follow.
By doing more things in the open, whether it’s theater events, Stage play “Stranger Things”.Tudum fan event or Netflix House opens next monthNetflix shows that Netflix is not just a brand you can collaborate with in your home. If it can become an affinity brand and develop a similar loyalty, like the kind people have for A24 or Criterion (in many ways it already has and by a mile), all of that is valuable in getting more subscribers and keeping them.
Even more than that, it can make Netflix cool.
