Ted Sarandos, CEO of Netflix, thinks that there is not “any motive to consider” that Barbie and Oppenheimer could not have finished simply as nicely on the streaming service.
There may be zero doubt that Barbie and Oppenheimer had been two of the most important movies of 2023. Barbie managed to gross virtually $1.5 billion globally, making it the very best grossing movie of the 12 months, with Oppenheimer solely half a billion behind placing it in third place – to not point out all these awards it one. The 2 movies clearly fueled one another as nicely, what with them releasing on the identical day, resulting in the Barbenheimer meme. It was a giant summer time for cinemas, and folks made an entire occasion out of seeing each movies again to again, a feat that’s not possible to copy however one clearly born out of the enjoyment of going to the cinema. And for some causes, Sarandos nonetheless thinks they may have finished simply as nicely on Netflix.
The Netflix CEO not too long ago spoke with The New York Occasions in a giant fancy profile, speaking all issues streaming, the place the subject of each Barbie and Oppenheimer got here up. “Each of these films could be nice for Netflix,” Sarandos mentioned within the interview. “They positively would have loved simply as massive an viewers on Netflix. And so I do not assume there’s any motive to consider that sure varieties of flicks do or do not work. There is no motive to consider that the film itself is best in any dimension of display for all individuals. My son’s an editor. He’s 28 years previous, and he watched Lawrence of Arabia on his telephone. However it’s simply an fascinating factor. At each new growth of know-how, there’s wins for the viewers.”
Now, here is the factor, Teddy – is Teddy OK? There’s simply no method that will be true. Occasion films like Barbie and Oppenheimer simply would not be as massive on streaming, and would not almost have as a lot longevity as a movie on the field workplace, culturally talking anyway. To today Netflix has barely made an affect throughout awards season, and whereas I do know awards aren’t every thing, and there is some points with guidelines surrounding that too, it does present you the form of cultural affect Netflix has had.
You may mislead your self all you need, Teddy, however individuals like going to the cinema typically, significantly for movies like Barbie.