While Netflix runs away from cinemas, Amazon MGM is doubling down on theatrical releases for 2026. More here.
As rival businesses aiming to capture the full-time attention of your eyeballs, the relationship between streamers and cinemas has always felt somewhat makeshift. Even in recent years as businesses like Amazon and Apple have experimented with theatrical releases with greater frequency.
Here in 2025, it feels like the equilibrium point may be about to tip again but in which direction, we’re not really sure.
Rumours persist that Netflix might be getting talked into premium-format theatrical releases for some of its films while the upcoming release of Apple’s F1 is being viewed as a ‘hold your breath moment’ regarding the future of that streamer’s commitment to theatrical releases.
One streaming studio whose commitment to theatrical releaes has remained more steadfast is Amazon, and that looks to continue throughout next year. The studio has announced that its movie slate for 2026 amounts to a cool billion dollars of film programming, and that of the 20 movies set to arrive, half of them will be debuting in cinemas.
According to Deadline, some of the films that we can expect to see next year include the long in development Masters Of The Universe adaptation and the highly-anticipated Ryan Gosling-led Project Hail Mary. Then there’s Chris Hemsworth and Mark Ruffalo starring in Crime 101, Chris Pratt and Rebecca Ferguson leading Mercy, the very promising combination of Anne Hathaway and Josh Hartnett in a romance-thriller called Verity, and an animated mystery comedy in the form of Three Bags Full.
The studio also announced another billion dollars would be spent on marketing these projects, hopefully meaning that they make a big splash upon release. Which in turn will signpost to the others mentioned in this piece that the inherent value of well-marketed theatrical release has clear value to add to the core business of streaming.
Time will tell if Amazon’s 2026 slate proves to be a success in this regard, but a future where all of the major streamers opt to follow this path in some fashion or other would be a welcome outcome indeed.
