By: Dominic La-Viola
James Cameron is one of many filmmakers in the news the past couple of days for sharing his opinions. Although contrary to others. His topic of choice is something far more relevant to Hollywood and movie lovers.
Cameron speaks out about the three potential buyers for WB/Discovery, stating that if Netflix acquires them, it would be a “disaster.” He says things like Netflix’s premise of releasing a film on 400 screens for a limited release only to make it eligible for the Academy Awards is “fundamentally rotten to the core.”
Cameron went on to clarify that he doesn’t care if Netflix wants to compete for the Oscars as long as they adjust their release strategy.
“They should be allowed to compete if they put the movie out for a meaningful release in 2,000 theaters for a month,” he went on to say.
To which I get and understand, to which I don’t disagree. Films that want to be eligible for the Oscars should get a proper theatrical release. For that is what the Academy Awards were designed for. They were created to celebrate movies and help support the film industry.
Although to the contrary, I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. I believe that Netflix would be the best choice to take over WB. Netflix has been slowly releasing more and more of its movies into theaters for longer and longer periods of time. Even films that we know aren’t going to be Oscar contenders.
Which makes me believe that they are trying to expand into the theater game, which would help generate new venue streams that they without question are going to need to continue on their journey.
Looking at the past 10 years, with Netflix’s first original film “Crouching Dragon, Sword of Destiny” in 2016. Which the film received a limited release in theaters, was the first of many films to come.
They continued to produce new films and even buy films from festivals to release. Although theatrical distribution is a lot more complex than simply saying that you want your film in theaters.
We’ve seen this firsthand with “Christy,” Black Bear Pictures’ first film that they tried to distribute to theaters. A complete nightmare.
There are many moving factors in releasing a film in theaters than simply adding showtimes and allowing a theater to show it. Something Netflix has yet to master.
Yet the WB has entire departments dedicated to this process, with years of experience and expertise. So by them buying WB and all their assets, I think Netflix would use the resources to expand their current market offering. Helping save the very thing that they put in jeopardy from its original business model: theaters. Theaters.
Four Time Film School Dropout 
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