It doesn’t need to be re-stated that Netflix and Hollywood don’t get along. The streaming giant’s insistence on going day-and-date with their theatrical releases (which often play in limited markets, through niche exhibitors) has ruffled the feathers of traditionalists. It certainly doesn’t help when CEO Reed Hastings points to YouTube as the viewership metrics the company is trying to achieve.
“I’m not sure we are leading [streaming video], when you look how far ahead YouTube is,” he recently told investors (via Variety). “Now you might say, well, it’s different content but it’s still very engaging for the audience that is choosing it.”
While some audiences and filmmakers are fine with this “content-can-go-anywhere” future, one person who unsurprisingly isn’t having any of it is Christopher Nolan. The director of this weeks’s must-see-in-70mm “Dunkirk” didn’t mince words and got candid about the Netflix business model.
READ MORE: Christopher Nolan’s ‘Dunkirk’ Is A Bruising, Blockbuster Experience
“Netflix has a bizarre aversion to supporting theatrical films. They have this mindless policy of everything having to be simultaneously streamed and released, which is obviously an untenable model for theatrical presentation. So they’re not even getting in the game, and I think they’re missing a huge opportunity,” he told Indiewire.
When it was pointed out that Netflix supports auteur filmmakers like Bong Joon-Ho and Noah Baumbach (who both had their recent Netflix efforts premiere at Cannes), not to mention bringing Martin Scorsese into the fold, Nolan wasn’t swayed. The director believes that support is merely a backdoor to Netflix’s own endgame.
“I think the investment that Netflix is putting into interesting filmmakers and interesting projects would be more admirable if it weren’t being used as some kind of bizarre leverage against shutting down theaters,” he stated. “It’s so pointless. I don’t really get it.”
Sharp words, and it’s probably safe to say there is no Netflix subscription in the Nolan household. Thoughts? Share ’em below. “Dunkirk” opens on Friday.
