If you’re a theater owner in the United States, there are fewer and fewer films sticking around in 2020 to get excited about as we enter the final weeks of the year. But one of those movies is the Tom Hanks drama, “News of the World.” And it appears that theater owners in the US might have dodged a bullet, as Universal is likely going to send the feature to streaming everywhere except America.
According to Deadline, Universal is finishing up a deal that would allow for Netflix to debut Paul Greengrass’ new film starring Tom Hanks, “News of the World,” in all territories except for the United States. While this is far from the first film to enter such a deal, “News of the World” might be one of the bigger films, with its awards season buzz, to make such a deal. And with this agreement, it would allow for Hanks and the rest of the folks involved to still be eligible for Oscars while also getting the film out to a global audience the way Netflix loves to do.
“News of the World” tells the story of a Civil War veteran that travels around sharing the news stories about the government and everything else going on in the world. When he comes across a 10-year-old girl that was taken from her family, he vows to bring her back to her parents.
As mentioned, the film is one of Universal’s big Oscar hopefuls this year and it’s clear the studio isn’t hopeful that a full global theatrical release will help it make money. And you can assume the only reason the US is being treated differently is because the studio has the deal with AMC that allows for Universal films to only play three weekends before moving to VOD. This way, Universal can qualify for awards season while also capitalizing on the power of PVOD during the pandemic.
As of now, “News of the World” is expected to arrive in theaters on December 25. A Netflix release date has not been announced.