Editorial: Netflix is Making Films With Adam Sandler, But It Is Far From The End Of Cinema

It's sorta fun to see movie theater owners get all scared whenever a new way of experiencing cinema comes around. Back in late 2011, whenever Universal Pictures planned to put the long-forgotten comedy Tower Heist on Video-On-Demand services a few weeks after its release in select cities, theater owners refused to show the movie until the studio cancelled the plan. Universal wound up relenting, but a new disagreement between movie theaters and a studio seems less likely to end in a amicable manner.
Last week, Netflix and The Weinstein Company announced a deal to bring a Crouching Tiger: Hidden Dragon to their streaming service the same day as its IMAX release. Honestly, the film isn't gonna be a mega-grosser, and I'm pretty sure the main reason The Weinstein Company did this tactic was to find some guaranteed coin for the film. But the entire endeavor wound up gaining a lot of publicity when several major movie theater chains like AMC, Cinemark and Regal declared they would not play the film in IMAX theaters they carry.

Their refusal to play it was befuddling ("Our movie theaters are the only way to see this movie....and now we'll guarantee you can't see it that way"), but their feelings towards Netflix are only about to intensify as late last night the company solidified themselves as a place for original cinematic content by getting a deal with Adam Sandler to do four movies for the company. As far as I can tell, these will bypass movie theaters and play exclusively on Netflix. Considering how late the new came out last night, it won't be until this morning that many will register their feelings on the news, and I can already guarantee you that there will be plenty of people proclaiming this to be the end of movie theaters. It's all Netflix from this point out.

I love movie theaters. I love my Blu-Rays, my Netflix, but a movie theater is the only way to experience a film. It's such a nice experience connecting with other people over a work of art, as well as being transfixed by the work of cinematic beauty unfolding on a giant screen in front of me. That being said, I'm not worried at all about Netflix and its forays into the world of film being some kind of replacement for movie theaters. Honestly, I'm surprised they didn't enter into the world of original movie content sooner considering how proactive they've been in getting tons of original television content.

If anything, Netflix doing movies now reminds me more of HBO doing films, and not some B-grade junk. No, no, HBO in the past year and a half alone has brought works loaded with A-list stars from Steven Soderbergh and Ryan Murphy to their channel. Now, HBO only does these movies once, maybe twice, a year, while Netflix will doubtlessly do more. But I doubt they can actually do that many more movies a year, solely because of how expensive they are; The Hollywood Reporter noted that the movies Adam Sandler makes for them could have an $80 million price tag, just like his theatrical comedies. Could be hard to do a ton of those in a single year.

No folks, Netflix isn't a threat to movie theaters contrary to what, of all people, movie theater owners believe. I have a pretty good hunch the two can easily coexist, with Netflix being a major presence, but in the end being just another avenue for certain content to call home.  My choice of experiencing film, watching it in a glorious movie theater, will continue to stand as a way to view film. It's just that certain movies, like an inevitable Grown Ups 3, will have another way to be viewed....through the power of Netflix.