Netflix no longer is public enemy No. 1 in the eyes of at least one mega-theater circuit — Cinemark. On Nov. 12, without revealing actual numbers, the exhibitor gushed in a press release that Red Notice is the most successful Netflix title it has carried.
Before the pandemic, Cinemark, like major theater chain rivals AMC Entertainment and Regal Cinemas, largely snubbed Netflix titles since the streamer wouldn’t abide by a 90-day theatrical window. That meant Netflix had to rely on a patchwork of 150 to 300 indie cinemas to play its films and prove to talent that it cares about the theatrical experience.
The extended COVID-19 pandemic has upended traditional windows. On Nov. 5, Netflix was hence able to book Red Notice — an action-comedy starring Dwayne Johnson opposite Ryan Reynolds and Gal Gadot and billed as the most expensive movie Netflix has ever made at a price tag of $200 million-plus — in 750 theaters nationwide a week before its launch on the streamer. That’s not a token release.
This strategy, which began in earnest over the summer, when Zack Snyder’s Army of the Dead played in 650 cinemas, wouldn’t be possible without Cinemark, one of the country’s three largest chains. Key regional circuits Marcus Theatres and Harkins Theatres also are playing ball. Johnson, whose Seven Bucks company produced the film, gets to boast that the movie has gotten the widest theatrical release in Netflix history.
“We love when we have the opportunity to create a cultural moment and comprehensive entertainment experience around a film,” Cinemark chief marketing and content officer Wanda Gierhart Fearing said in the company statement. “In the past year, Cinemark has shown more than 10 Netflix films in our immersive environment, and we look forward to testing financially viable models for both parties that have an exclusive theatrical window to eventize key films.”
Netflix isn’t saying whether this strategy will continue for its other commercially minded original movies (Shawn Levy’s upcoming The Adam Project, starring Reynolds, comes to mind) and has signaled that there is no one-size-fits-all approach. All told, it releases about 30 movies a year in theaters at a time when smaller, indie cinemas are struggling (and that was before the ravages of COVID-19). Box office analysts also are more bullish about Netflix’s impact on theatrical. “I credit Netflix for giving moviegoers a reason to get off the couch and go to a cinema,” says box office analyst Steve Buck of analytics firm EntTelligence.
Nor is it a surprise that studio executives are no longer so antagonistic. “I don’t begrudge exhibitors for playing Red Notice,” says one studio exec. Every major Hollywood studio except for Sony is experimenting with simultaneous releases in the home via their respective streaming services or putting films out early on premium video on-demand.
While the issue of shortened windows is no longer as taboo, committing to a substantial marketing spend is key for many chains when it comes to a title getting a hybrid release. Sources say AMC and Regal — which both declined to comment — wouldn’t play Red Notice in part because of this. Netflix certainly advertised Red Notice, but there wasn’t the same sort of theatrical marketing campaign that Warner Bros., for example, is waging for its 2021 slate, which is debuting simultaneously on the big screen and on HBO Max, or Disney with Disney+ titles or Paramount with the recent hybrid release Clifford the Big Red Dog.
“I predict that if Netflix spends more on marketing, Regal and AMC will carry their movies, too,” says one industry source.
Red Notice is fast on its way to becoming one of the most watched Netflix original movies of all time, according to a new measurement system unveiled Nov. 16. The new weekly rankings of Netflix films and TV series is based on the total number of hours viewed for a given title rather than the previous standard of a two-minute sample.
Red Notice was viewed 148 million hours in its first three days alone. Per the new metrics, the Sandra Bullock starrer Bird Box leads the list of the top 10 most viewed Netflix movies of all time (with 282 million hours), followed by Extraction (231 million), The Irishman (215 minutes) and The Kissing Booth 2 (209 million).
While Netflix is providing more viewership data than before, it still won’t report box office grosses. Apple TV+ likewise doesn’t report box office grosses for the films it plays in select theaters. Amazon Studios didn’t report numbers in the past, but it now does for some of its titles.
Box office insiders believe that Red Notice has earned $2 million to $3 million as of Nov. 17, but there is no way to be sure. That would normally be considered a paltry amount for a movie featuring three of the world’s biggest stars, but ticket sales aren’t Netflix’s business model — subscribers are.
“It doesn’t make much sense for Netflix to report the grosses. I think it’s still very much a test. If it was a wide national release, the situation might be different,” says Wall Street analyst Eric Handler, who tracks the exhibition sector at MKM Partners. “For Cinemark, they get a film with some big-name stars that should do better than whatever else they could put into their eighth screen in an eight-screen theater, even with limited advertising.”
Adds Buck, “I give exhibition credit during the pandemic for experimenting. Reporting grosses isn’t Netflix’s objective. The NFL and UFC don’t disclose grosses either when they show their games in theaters.”
This story first appeared in the Nov. 22 issue of The Hollywood Reporter magazine. Click here to subscribe.
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