The (Net)Fix is In

Okay, it has been a week. So let us talk about the Netflix buying WB deal.

For $82.7 billion, Netflix would own all of Warner Bros. that matters. The movies, DC Comics; what have you. From a business standpoint, this was absolutely the right thing for Netflix to do. They are the top streaming company. The more content they have, the more they can offer their consumers. If they can offer exclusive viewings of WB products then that is another feather in their cap. They get to stop paying licensing fees to have WB content. They could start charging other streamers instead. For $82 billion, they made out fine.

What I find entertaining is that Warner Bros. did essentially the same thing decades ago. They bought Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and their content through 1986 (minus Rocky, James Bond; those franchises.) So WB knows about building up their resources.

Disney is not doing as well. They have been buying up all the shares of Hulu from NBC, Fox, and, that is right, Time Warner. Disney also wants content. Disney has gone so far as to pair up with HBO Max. Now Netflix can control those WB offerings. Which lets them keep sitting on top of the streaming pile. If I was on the board of Netflix, I would not have blinked at the bid.

However, I am a projectionist. I like movie theaters. I maintain that the closest thing we have to ancient civilizations sitting around the fire, cooking their dinner and exchanging stories, are movie theaters. We shovel popcorn in by the fistful, we try to share the armrest with the stranger next to us, and we talk about the movies we saw on the way home and at the water cooler at work. Movies create community. They give us a break from life.

Movies at home on the couch are not the same as movies seen in a theater. You feed off of other people. When they laugh at a bit, it encourages you to chuckle along. When someone else screams or cheers, it impacts how you watch the movie. So yeah, I want movie theaters to keep their place in society.

My opinion is that the CEO of Netflix, Ted Sarandos, does not feel the same way.

“Both of those movies would be great for Netflix,” Sarandos said of “Barbie” and “Oppenheimer.” “They definitely would have enjoyed just as big an audience on Netflix.” –Variety

Everybody won with that double-dose. Oppenheimer made almost a billion and Barbie made nearly one and a half billion. It was a great summer at the theaters. Folks dressed up. Pink suits, fedoras; sometimes both on the same person. Oppenheimer invented black and white IMAX film. Barbie let women have some time on the silver screen. Pink, black, white; it all came out green. That was because of theaters. Oppenheimer did fantastic numbers in IMAX, especially on 70mm screens. Because even with all the new technologies, film still has a higher resolution than digital. (My understanding is that digital tends to be limited to 8k while film is still 16-18k. New screens and technology are being created all the time. Analog is still the format winner.)

Sarandos is not gung-ho on theaters.

“I think over time, I think the windows will evolve to be much more consumer-friendly, to be able to meet the audience where they are quicker,” Sarandos said. “I’d say right now, you should count on everything that is planned on going to the theater through Warner Bros. will continue to go to the theaters through through Warner Bros. and Netflix movies will take the same strides they have, which is some of them do have a short run in the theater beforehand, but our primary goal is to bring first-run movies to our members, because that’s what they’re looking for.” –The Hollywood Reporter

He wants movies on tablets as soon as possible. Which is not how movies should be enjoyed. Movies will never stay in theaters for long. They should be allowed their few months of spiffiness before being relegated to a handheld screen. Christopher Nolan is using a brand-new IMAX camera, made just for him to capture his big screen vision, to film The Odyssey. He is going to all that trouble to give folks a true cinematic experience. Not to play an animated .gif on your computer monitor. Enjoy the movies in the theaters (and the crowds) while you can, then watch them at home after the initial release is up.

Yes, movie attendance is down. Yes, theaters are looking for new ways to get people in. Yes, my job may be phased out sooner than later. Okay. But do not phase out the movie-going experience altogether. We need to sit next to strangers in a shared space so we remember how to get along with each other. We can cry together, gasp together, and cheer together. People need other people around (in small doses, please.)

Netflix buying Warner Bros. is the right decision. Keeping movie theaters going is a better one.