Netflix said on Friday that it would, for the first time, put a movie in wide theatrical release for over a month before making it available on the company’s streaming service.
The film, Greta Gerwig’s “Narnia: The Magician’s Nephew,” will be released in theaters on Feb. 12, Netflix said, and then on the streaming service on April 2. The plan breaks from Netflix’s longstanding policy of releasing movies exclusively on its streaming service, with few caveats. Many filmmakers and theater chain owners have desperately wanted the entertainment giant to start releasing films in theaters, to help buoy struggling box office sales.
Asked if this was a strategy change or a one-time exception, a Netflix spokeswoman said, “There’s no change to our theatrical strategy.”
Yet Netflix has shown signs that it is warming to doing wide theatrical releases. When the company was in the hunt to buy Warner Bros. Discovery this year, one of its chief executives, Ted Sarandos, said he would honor the 45-day theatrical window that the studio had long observed. Then last month, he visited theater owners at a convention in Las Vegas and suggested that Netflix was increasingly interested in pursuing bespoke deals with them, like the “KPop Demon Hunters” singalong events from last year. But no firm commitments for specific movie releases had been made.
Netflix initially planned to release Ms. Gerwig’s film for two weeks on IMAX, the large-format technology, starting this Thanksgiving. The director was fresh off “Barbie,” which earned $1.4 billion when it was released in 2023, and while willing to work with Netflix she wanted to see her movie in theaters. But it was expected to then move straight to streaming, with no exclusive window for traditional theaters.
Ms. Gerwig praised the change in a statement on Friday. The film will continue to be released on IMAX as well.
“Working with Netflix to bring this film to life has been extraordinary, and IMAX continues to be an incredible partner,” Ms. Gerwig said in a statement. “I cannot wait for people to see the film in theaters on Feb. 12 and on Netflix on April 2.” Netflix has argued that it is in the subscription business and, therefore, that its subscribers should have first access to the movies the company makes. This stance has often caused it to lose out on films — like Emerald Fennell’s “Wuthering Heights” — because filmmakers want to see their films in theaters for extended periods.
Theater owners believe these exclusive theatrical windows are crucial to their survival and have been pushing for longer periods between when a movie opens in their theaters and when it hits the home streaming services.
Nicole Sperling covers Hollywood and the streaming industry. She has been a reporter for more than two decades.
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