Netflix has been making overtures to movie theaters ever since it launched its bid to buy Warner Bros. Even after that deal collapsed, Netflix has signaled its openness to working with cinemas by deciding to give Greta Gerwig’s “Narnia: The Magician’s Nephew” a full theatrical release. It’s all part of an effort by Ted Sarandos, Netflix’s co-CEO, to signal that the streaming giant is not the enemy.
But Dan Lin, chairman of Netflix’s film division, didn’t deliver the same message during a recent sit-down with the New York Times.
“There is a group of filmmakers who still want theatrical. Those are filmmakers that we’ve accepted we just won’t work with,” Lin told the paper with what the article describes as his “trademark bluntness.”
That’s in contrast to Lin’s predecessor in the job, Scott Stuber, who sometimes clashed with Sarandos over his struggles to give Netflix movies from major auteurs like Guillermo del Toro (“Frankenstein”) and Alfonso Cuaron (“Roma”) more robust theatrical releases beyond just an awards qualifying run. And Stuber never gave up on trying to land cinema purists like Christopher Nolan.
“If and when he comes up with his new movie, it’s about can we be a home for it and what would we need to do to make that happen,” Stuber told Variety in 2021. “He’s an incredible filmmaker. I’m going to do everything I can.”
