The Further Mis-adventures Of Cliff Booth is struggling to find cinema space, as Netflix and cinemas continue to stand at odds. Interesting times in the world of Netflix, with the first discernible signs that its longstanding business model is running out of steam. Appreciating the streamer maintains huge subscriber numbers, and a huge monthly income, ... Cinema chains turning their back on Netflix, and Cliff Booth film
The Further Mis-adventures Of Cliff Booth is struggling to find cinema space, as Netflix and cinemas continue to stand at odds.
Interesting times in the world of Netflix, with the first discernible signs that its longstanding business model is running out of steam.
Appreciating the streamer maintains huge subscriber numbers, and a huge monthly income, it’s nonetheless experiencing lower engagement times from its users, and struggling to land another breakout success.
Its failed attempt to purchase Warner Bros may have given the company the rocket boost it appears to be seeking, and more recently, it’s announced significant job losses, and a change in personnel in senior positions. Specifically on the film side, where it’s hard to remember the last Netflix film that really particularly gripped or cut through.
The streamer has stuck stoically too to a model of cinemas as an afterthought at best, costing it projects from named filmmakers. And as it seeks to push its last David Fincher movie – The Further Mis-adventures Of Cliff Booth – towards a small cinema run, cinemas themselves are turning their back.
In the US, two of the three biggest cinema chains – Regal and Cinemark – have now outright refused to play the film, given Netflix’s commitment to a brief theatrical window, before the movie hits streaming on Christmas day. AMC, the biggest chain in the States, is still taking the film.
However, Cinemark boss Sean Gamble is having none of it, stating “we book all of our films on a case-by-case situation. In that particular situation, we always look at things through a long-term lens and how certain precedents and things we might do could affect longer-term industry dynamics. In this particular case, we don’t believe the proposed release model is constructive for the broader theatrical ecosystem, and it’s not aligned with the greatest interest of our theatres.”
Cinemas and Netflix at odds with each other is nothing new. What’s interesting now though is that the power dynamic might be shifting. Amazon is heavily committed to theatrical releases, as is Skydance. And the feeling that Netflix left tens of millions of potential revenue by not, for instance, playing its Knives Out films for longer is hard to shake.
Now, Netflix – and witness its upcoming Narnia films – might just need cinemas on its side. Cinemas, meanwhile, look like they’ve got limited interest in playing ball.
