Dan Lin, chairman of Netflix film, opened up about the streamer’s decision to give Greta Gerwig‘s Narnia movie a wide theatrical release in a new profile with The New York Times, assuring the outlet that the move was an “exception” and not a hint at its future rollout strategy.
Lin joined Netflix in April 2024, taking over the reins from Scott Stuber, who shifted the streaming service into the blockbuster space. When discussing the Barbie director’s upcoming Narnia film, the Netflix film boss told the Times that he knows there are directors and filmmakers who value theatrical releases that the company will not be able to work with.
“There is a group of filmmakers who still want theatrical,” Lin said. “Those are filmmakers that we’ve accepted we just won’t work with.”
Gerwig’s adaptation of the fantasy novel was originally slated to be released in Imax theaters on Thanksgiving before arriving on Netflix on Christmas Day. However, in May, the streamer revealed that the film will release on Feb. 12, 2027, and later go to Netflix on April 2, 2027, marking its first film to have a traditional theatrical release.
Netflix’s theatrical strategy, or lack thereof, was a major point of contention when the streamer was in the running to acquire Warner Bros. Discovery. Before the streaming giant dropped out of the bidding war, leaving Paramount as the winner, co-CEO Ted Sarandos said that Warner Bros. films would have the standard 45-day theatrical window.
Elsewhere, the streamer’s Cliff Booth movie, directed by David Fincher from a script by Quentin Tarantino based on Brad Pitt‘s Once Upon a Time in Hollywood stuntman character, will have a short theatrical run. The Adventures of Cliff Booth (the movie’s working title) will have a two-week Imax run globally starting Nov. 25, before hitting Netflix on Dec. 23.
Under his leadership, the Times also outlined that Lin wants Netflix to “spend less money on fewer, better movies.” Lin also said in the profile that he’d like the streamer to develop more comedies, rom-coms and book adaptations, with People We Meet on Vacation serving as a recent example of a success for the streamer.
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