
Loading summary
A
This episode is brought to you by FX's Love Story. John F. Kennedy Jr. And Carolyn Bessette. The critically acclaimed series explores the undeniable chemistry, whirlwind courtship and high profile marriage of one of the most iconic couples of the 20th century, with Sarah Pigeon and Paul Anthony Kelly leading a cast including Naomi Watts, Constance Zimmer, Alessandro Nivola and Grace Gummer. Called a stunning portrait of love by variety of Love Story is Emmy eligible in all limited series categories. Now streaming on Hulu and Hulu on Disney plus for bundle subscribers, This episode of the Town is brought to you by Stars Outlander Everything has led to this. The final chapter of the time traveling drama and cultural phenomenon starring Sam Heughan and Catriona Balfour is only on Starz. Vogue declares Outlander one of television's greatest love stories, and the rap raves Balf and Heughan have perfected this on screen relationship. Industry voters can access all episodes@starsfyc.com it is Monday, May 4th. If it's a little chilly out there in Hollywood today, it's because hell has frozen over. Netflix has agreed to release its first movie in theaters worldwide with a traditional window of theatrical exhibition inclusivity. It's the Narnia movie, of course. Greta Gerwig, a huge flex here. Remember Netflix signed Gerwig to make this movie before Barbie came out. And then after Barbie became a huge success, she politely asked Netflix to put the movie in theaters. I think forcefully is a better way to describe that. Ask but Ted Sarandos, the co CEO of Netflix. Mr. Movie theaters are not our model. He reluctantly agreed to put the movie in theaters, but only on IMAX screens and only for two weeks starting in Thanksgiving. Then Narnia would debut on Christmas on Netflix. Not nothing, but not a big deviation to Ted. That felt like a good compromise. Greta would get about a thousand theaters worldwide and about a month window and Netflix could explain that away as a stunt, not a real theatrical release. Last thing Ted wanted was every other top filmmaker demanding the quote unquote Greta deal. Amc, home to most IMAX screens. They were on board with that plan. But Regal, the second biggest chain? They didn't love it because remember, the theater chains don't play Netflix movies precisely because the Thanksgiving to Christmas period is only 30 days. Most studios adhere to a 45 day window for the big titles especially. Why would Regal bend the rules for this one movie and from a notoriously anti theater company? But now, after many negotiations, lots of behind the scenes maneuvering and an injury on the set of Narnia, that delayed production of the movie. We have a new plan. Narnia the Magician's Nephew will now play in all formats, not just IMAX, all types of theaters, all the chains. Starting on February 12th, IMAX is going to get it a couple days early and it won't hit Netflix until April 2nd. That's a 49 day window. So what happened here? Why did Netflix blink on theaters? Is this just a one off or is this a sign of future softening of Ted's stance towards theaters? Big implications for the entire ecosystem in Hollywood. Remember, Ted just tried to buy Warner Brothers and convince everyone that he would honor the theatrical window for those movies. Are the big Netflix movies next? Netflix says no, of course, but what does Lucas Shaw think, our Monday guy? We're going to discuss it all today. It's Netflix and Narnia. Why did Greta Gerwig get theaters when so many directors do not? From the ringer and Puck, I'm Matt Bellani and this is the town. Okay, we are Lucas Shaw from Bloomberg. Welcome back. Lucas, are you going to any of the Netflix is a joke events this week in la?
B
Yeah, I'm going to. Well, I, I think I'm going to the Kevin Hart roast on Sunday and I am supposed to go see this person, Gary Starr on Friday night, which was a recommendation from someone at Netflix and who declined to tell me any information and just said, go see it. It's really weird.
A
Oh, that's fun. Yeah, it really is. I mean, we on Netflix sometimes on this show, but this is one of the great things. They do this comedy festival every couple years in la. It's literally like dozens and dozens of shows. I'm going to Seinfeld. I'm gonna go to the Seth Rogen thing on Wednesday where he's got like a dozen comedians. It's gonna be great.
B
So are you just buttering Ted up because you're about to insult him for the next 20 minutes?
A
I am. I am loading up my crap that I'm gonna dump all over Netflix for the. No, they did a nice thing here. All right, let's get into this because we should talk about the big news of the week. The Greta Gerwig deal where Netflix is now going to put the Narnia movie not in IMAX theaters as they previously announced.
B
Well, in imax, but in all the. In.
A
Right. But not exclusively in a thousand IMAX screens. They're going worldwide. This is something that Scorsese wanted. This is something Guillermo del Toro wanted very badly. David Fincher, Katherine Bigelow name your top director that has worked with Netflix. They all wanted theaters. Greta Gerwig got them and got a wide Release with a 49 day exclusive window in theaters. Why did Greta get this right?
B
Combination of director, project and timing. Right. I think if Guillermo del Toro had pushed for this for Frankenstein now as opposed to a year ago, he would have gotten it too. But you have.
A
Oh, you think so?
B
I think so.
A
Because I think the unique nature of this project, the fact that it predated Barbie and she was deciding what to do after Barbie, she really wanted to do this, but she held it out there. Oh, I would like theaters. She has been pressing this point. She was at the head of IMAX's house this past month, like talking to him like she's made it her thing that she wants this and right time. Where Ted was looking at Warner Brothers got to know the, the theatrical business a little more, is putting his toe in the water with these stunts like the K Pop Demon Hunters thing, like one Piece. And he came around on it.
B
Look, you have one of the most talented and bankable directors of her generation, if not the most. You have a project that has sort of global resonance and is, you know, huge scale, big visual effects. It's like it, it, it. I mean, I don't know if it's going to work in theaters, but it is the type of movie that people make for theaters, not just for viewing at home.
A
I've heard it's going to be the most expensive movie Netflix has ever made, if not the most. With apologies to the Russo brothers here, but it's going to be among the most expensive movies that Netflix has ever made.
B
It's coming on the heels of this Warner Brothers deal where they might push back on it. But I think they're. The theatrical issue became a huge stumbling block for them because it meant that both the entertainment industry was sort of aligned in many ways against the deal. You had politicians asking about the future of movie theaters. It was just something that really got in the way for them. And as you and I have both reported on in the past, there are projects that they have lost because they don't get theaters. And so I think if they can say on select titles, you know, we will do this. Going to say this is a one off. And you and I both know that even if they say that they're going to, if this works for all involved, they'll do it again.
A
Yeah, that's the whole question here, is what kind of precedent are they setting? Because let's, let's get into the deal itself. First of all, they had been talking about this for a few months now. I mean, I have reported it, others have reported it, that Sarandos was open to a wide release because that's the big thing here, not the Netflix IMAX partnership. That was the original deal. That was great. But it was two weeks in theaters and then a month to streaming. They have been talking about going wide because that's what Greta wanted. They then have this opportunity or setback where there's an injury on the production that does delay it. I am told that is real, that they were questioning whether they were going to be able to hit that Thanksgiving release date. So they all get together and say, well, okay, what kind of opportunity does this give us? And Netflix had really wanted the movie for Christmas. If that's not going to happen, then maybe they look at this and say, this is our chance to do something unique here. And IMAX wanted it. They were okay with losing the exclusivity if it meant supporting the filmmaker and getting the, you know, the couple days of, of exclusivity in advance of the wide release. Regal had some leverage here because remember, the original IMAX deal with Netflix had AMC on board. They have most of the IMAX screens, but it did not have Regal on board. Now IMAX says it wasn't a problem. They had recruited theaters around the world and they were going to meet that thousand screen requirement in the deal. But Regal did have some leverage because they were not signed off on this because of the 30 day window. They want at least 45. And you have Netflix here, who, I think, you know, there's larger macro issues going on with Netflix. Their growth is slowing. They have now gone after Warner Brothers. It didn't work. They have had issues with their stock where investors are looking at them saying, okay, why did you need Warner Brothers so badly? Where is the next growth engine for Netflix coming? And it all lines up where if Netflix can do this and get a successful result, maybe that becomes the template for another growth engine for them.
B
I don't know that movie theaters are going to be another growth engine for them, but I, I don't know.
A
It's a $40 billion global business that Netflix could take a piece of. And basically everybody else in the movie ecosystem has decided, except for Apple, that theaters are worthwhile. Netflix, not our model, out outdated. You know, Ted, Ted's thoughts on this are pretty clear. But I think when you are making movies at that scale, it's harder and harder to justify the cost without that
B
revenue I think it makes sense for movies of that scale. I just don't think that releasing a handful of movies in theaters is going to generate meaningful revenue for a company that's going to, going to make $40 billion in sales this year. Even the companies that put movies in theaters, the movie other than Disney, and that's because of how it ties into everything. Movies don't actually move the stock price for these big media companies. It's a nice business to be in. It's a diversification, and it may create franchise franchises that they can exploit in other areas. But whether it's Warner Brothers, Paramount, the studio business tends to be a pretty small part of their overall business. This.
A
You don't think Netflix is looking at the Nielsen chart that came out last week, and two of the top five movies were prime video movies, Mercy and Crime 101, that got theatrical releases and marketing campaigns and saying, okay, those movies are outperforming the movies that we put on Netflix without marketing campaigns and without theatrical releases. Maybe there's something to that.
B
I don't actually think the numbers for crime 101 and mercy were all that good.
A
They topped the chart for the week.
B
Sure, in a light week after Zootopia had been a number one for several weeks.
A
I think that beat a lot of Netflix originals.
B
I think that that question has been out or that phenomenon has been out there for a while. They've seen the performance of the other studio movies that they get and how well that those do on streaming, and they have ignored that till now. I think we've, I think we've just reached a point where there are enough different things happening at the same time and that this is a special movie. I, I, I guess I'm curious because you brought up the, the people who'd asked in the past, how many directors do you think could get away with making Netflix do this? Like, where is the line?
A
Well, there are, I think there are four or five where the mere interest in a Netflix movie would cause Ted to give them the Greta deal. I think that is clearly Nolan, Tarantino, Spielberg. Who else?
C
Coogler, Jordan?
B
I have Peel. I wrote Peel. I think Cuaron, if you wanted to do it, they might have to do
A
it for, I don't know.
B
So you don't, you don't think that, you don't think that if Scorsese came back because he was unhappy about the Irishman, he goes and does his next movie at Apple, that if he was like, if you're, if you want to work with me again, you've got to do theatrical or because his movies haven't worked theatrically. Does Netflix say, sorry, we're not doing it?
A
I think it's a case by case. Depends on the movie. If it's a, you know, small personal movie, no. If it's Leo starring in a crime thriller, maybe.
B
But isn't that true of Spielberg? If he came to them with the Fablemans, I don't think they're giving him this release.
A
He's enough of a name. Listen, they did a whole deal with Spielberg's Amblin on the. The hope that they would potentially get a directing vehicle from Spielberg. That hasn't happened. They've had a couple of hits from them, but they haven't had, you know, that kind of success. I think also how these projects come together matters. If Netflix had some big book that they had optioned and there's a filmmaker like Nolan or Spielberg that is interested in doing it, but would require the Greta deal. I think they do the Greta deal and that could be true for, you know, Joe Kaczynski or someone who has had big theatrical success and wants to do a Netflix movie but would require theaters. Like they just, it's a competitive environment and I think they're probably sick of losing projects over this topic.
B
That I think is a factor.
A
Everything else makes sense here. All the players are doing what they do. AMC is doing what they do. Regal. All the players. Greta, the big mystery here is why did Ted blink?
B
And the industry has coalesced around this 45 day window as the new norm. Right. You had Donna Langley of Universal come out and say we're going to do 45 days. You've had David Ellison at Paramount say we're going to do 45 days. Disney has often had the longest windows anyways. And so if everyone else is going 45 days, and in most of those cases, that's just to, to purchase a rental at home, not even streaming. You know, there, there was a time for Netflix where the movie studios were sort of moving in their direction. It was during and then coming out of COVID where, you know, universal was saying 17 days and other people were doing 30. And if those windows were shorter and shorter, why would Netflix feel obligated to, to change their model? Because it seemed like that business was coming towards them. It has now kind of reverted a little bit. They've. They found a medium between where they were before, which was an even longer window. Often, you know, 90 days or 120 days and now which is 45, which I think is a Little more rational. And so if movie studios and movie theaters are holding hands on that, that sort of leaves Netflix on an island.
A
Yeah. Ted sees, he reads the room and he knows he's losing on this issue. And he just got exposure to the Warner's model, which presumably makes a lot of sense to include theatrical and that's what caused his movement.
B
Well, the tricky, the thing that I'm most curious about is putting movies in theaters only works if you market them.
A
Yeah, you wrote about this in your newsletter, but there's a marketing commitment in the deal. The, in the. I wrote about this a year or two ago in the deal between IMAX and Netflix, which is now going to be honored by all the theater chains. There is going to be a meaningful normal blockbuster style marketing campaign associated with this movie. And, and they've committed to lean into IMAX and promote the IMAX element of it. So that's happening.
B
I'm telling you, even promoting an IMAX release is different from promoting 4,000 domestic screens. Netflix has never done it before. I'm not saying they can't. They have very capable marketing team, but it's just not something they've done. They do not typically do huge pre release promotion. They just don't.
A
Well, and they're at least now they're claiming that they're going to distribute this movie themselves, which is another big mystery. Why not partner with a experienced traditional distributor to get the most out of this? I mean, Sony distributed Project Hail Mary overseas for Amazon because they don't have their apparatus up and running yet. Project hail Mary did 100 million in IMAX alone. I mean, that's the model for this movie, right? And can Netflix do it?
B
Well, it's very Netflix to say we're going to do it ourselves. You would think that they had learned from some of their other experiences with new businesses where maybe it's best to start with someone else and then figure out how to do it yourself. They don't have a large theatrical distribution team.
A
No. And this is a big movie to be learning on the fly and an expensive movie. And the traditional distributors are just sitting there waiting for opportunities like this. Warner's would do it, Universal would do it. Sony would do it. I had heard that there were some talks with Sony and yet Sony denies that they are going to release this movie.
B
Well, Sony and Universal would make the most sense considering the pay one relationship that already exists between Netflix and those companies.
A
This episode is brought to you by Holiday Inn by IHG Whenever I'm traveling for work, Holiday Inn has always been my go to and now even more so than ever, it has a whole new energy, especially for business travelers. Spaces that feel like your living room and dining done right from breakfast to dinner and drinks. Whether you're traveling for work or getting away for a minute, it's comfort that hits different Holiday Inn. It's a new day and a new stay. Book your next day@holidayin.com so let's it's
D
time to bring on the blooms at the Home Depot with Spring Garden Deals. Find savings on high hanging baskets and flowers to brighten your backyard or any space that needs instant color. Then get everything you need to plant and protect them with low prices guaranteed on soil and mulch. Dig into Spring garden deals for four days at the Home Depot now through May 10th exclusion supply. See homedepot.com pricematch for details.
A
Talk about the dates here because this movie went from Thanksgiving and Christmas to now February 12th to April 2nd. And there's some mysteries there because obviously President's Weekend, big movie going weekend. It was. They picked this because it's considered there weren't any big movies already on that date. But I think the difference here is that it's super bowl weekend, not a
B
good movie going weekend because people spend all of Sunday at home.
A
And, and it's weird that it's a holiday weekend, but the that's probably why there was no big movie on this weekend.
B
It's also Valentine's Day weekend, so classic, you know, classic date movie. Narnia.
A
Well, I mean, I don't know. Wuthering Heights did okay on that weekend this past year, but that's a big risk. Also, one of the reasons why Netflix wanted this movie on Christmas is because there's a religious aspect to the Narnia stories and apparently Greta Gerwig is leaning in on that aspect in her adaptation.
B
Well, now they, but now they get it close to Easter.
A
But, but they get it after Easter. Easter is on the 28th of March next year and this movie's coming out on the 2nd of April. They could have gone on Easter Sunday and still held to that 45 day
B
window if they go just on Sunday instead of on their normal like Thursday night at midnight.
A
Yeah, they could have dropped it on Easter.
B
Do we think that this is a is going to be a movie for kids? Yes, because that's the one thing. January and February, as as usual, is pretty empty. But if what I'm reading about the calendar is right, it comes out a week after an Ice Age movie and a week before the Cocomelon movie. So that is a pretty crowded kids corridor already. There is also an airbud movie in January, but I'm guessing most kids don't remember or care about.
A
Oh, you missed Airbud at CinemaCon. He was there.
B
Five year old Lucas would have been very excited.
A
Yeah, it is a risk. I mean, that's why these calendars are sorted out years in advance, because people are jockeying for the best dates and this date was available because it's not a great date.
B
Well, and what's odd is that they had a good date previously that was sort of uncharacteristically empty.
A
Yeah, I know. Thanksgiving, it's got a Dizzy. An original movie on it.
B
Yeah, but there is, there's. There you have Hunger Games and Fockers both. Both of which I think are going to do pretty well. But.
A
But they had the IMAX for those.
B
They had the IMAX and that, you know, to get IMAX in January and February is much easier than getting it in March or April or God forgive summer. Yeah, I don't know. I find it very hard to bet against Gretiger, which she hasn't really missed yet.
A
True. Do you think as a Netflix observer this is a sign of future plans, that Ted knows they're eventually going to go after Sony or Lionsgate or Universal or some other theatrical distributor to replace Warner Brothers that they wanted and that they need to get on board with learning more about theatrical distribution and exhibition in order to be a better suitor and owner of one of those companies?
B
I guess my feeling on this is we need to stop talking about it as purely a focus on theaters. I think that the, the willingness to experiment more with theaters is part of a larger consideration at Netflix, which has up until this point been exclusively focused on its streaming business. But you've seen it over the last few years experiment with consumer products and in person experiences and sort of other lines of business that as yes, games, although that is at least for now part of the streaming package.
A
And podcast, don't forget podcast.
B
Podcasts. Again, part of the. That's more of a streaming programming vertical. But I think that like a true entertainment studio media company has multiple lines of business, not just streaming. And they are trying to expand into the other areas like the final chapter. Not the final, but the next chapter in Netflix's evolution is like they're basically the only tech company that became an entertainment company, but they're still a platform company. And if you're a studio, a big part of your business is exploiting that IP in many ways, it's sort of the model that Disney has perfected. And that's one area where Netflix is still so far behind Disney and even Warner Brothers and Universal and to some extent Sony. And so I think this is all part of them trying to experiment more and more with how do we create durable IP because they've been making original programing now for almost 15 years. And other than Stranger Things and to some extent Bridgerton, like they don't have
A
a lot of durable ip K Pop Demon Hunters.
C
It's unsustainable for the amount of TV and movies that they make and spend on that doesn't become long term. IP is unsustainable.
A
Yeah. I mean, what I think is this is a potential growth engine and they are looking for growth engines. And while theatrical is not like you said, you know, bottom line, growth engine, IP creation is. And if they can use theaters to increase the value of these properties that they are spending hundreds of millions of dollars to create, it's why all these other studios are like, what are you doing? You can't spend that much on a movie and not make money on it in multiple windows.
B
Right. They went in because they'd had so much success disrupting the television business, they thought that they could rewrite the rules for how entertainment companies operate. And it turns out that while they were way ahead of the game and much smarter than people when it came to distribution, there are other aspects of the business where doing the way that people did things actually made some sense. And they are sort of belatedly coming around to that. If they can take Narnia and make it a popular video game or make have there be an experience on one of these Netflix houses or anything of that, you know, have there be a bunch of toys for Christmas or Halloween costumes, all of that stuff should benefit Netflix. And they haven't really figured it out.
A
And at a time when engagement for some of their bigger hits is declining. Yeah, or they Night Agent.
B
The Night Agent is the big one.
A
Yeah.
B
I am not surprised. They just announced that the fourth season of the Night Agent would be the final one, which is if you see the fall off in the most recent seasons, it's not surprising, but that's a trend.
A
These shows don't have the long hit horizon that they did in traditional linear. They burn out faster for most.
C
Well, Julie Alexander just wrote about this for Puck, about the difference now in. In these streaming shows just popping initially in the beginning and then fading quickly versus the buildup of the weekly release.
A
And if you have a Popular movie, especially one for kids. It's forever.
B
Even though I wrote a little bit about Bridgerton. Bridgerton seems quite. Quite strong and durable. It's the most watched original show of the year.
A
All right, so five years. How many movies per year is Netflix giving wide releases to in five years?
B
Six.
A
Whoa, that's a lot. Six movies a year are going to justify wide releases from Netflix?
B
Maybe four.
A
Two. Two to three.
B
Okay, four. My whole thing has been if they want. If they want one huge tent pole, a quarter, that tent pole should be in theaters. So I' go with four. Fine, six. Okay, six was probably two. I was thinking if you. You could also go up to eight, and so I went in between, but sure, I'll go with four. I think two is too little. I don't. I think they'll be at more than 2 by then, but I could be wrong.
A
Scott Steuber will be doing a victory dance. He was advocating for this forever at Netflix, and it always stopped at Ted's desk.
B
Will he be doing a. He won't be part of it, no.
A
But you know what? He could say he was right, and he'll probably be producing the kind of movies that Netflix puts in theaters. So he'll be able to go to the premiere and say, listen, my movie is coming out in theaters, so good for him. All right, Lucas, thanks very much.
B
Thanks, Matt.
A
Today's call sheet is brought to you by Holiday Inn, by ihg, the global icon you love, but with a whole new energy and comfort that hits different than before. Craig, how much are you following the latest Kimmel issue with the fcc?
C
The sequel's never as good as the original.
A
It really isn't. I mean, this one is even dumber than the last one. The last one, at least. These station groups were upset over the Charlie Kirk joke that Kimmel made. It was, you know, on the line. Probably not the. His best joke of all time, but this latest one, man, it is the dumbest controversy if you haven't been following. Kimmel did a fake White House correspondence dinner bit on the show days before the actual White House correspondence dinner. Very funny jokes. Referred to Melania as, you know, a widow in waiting or something similar to that. It was a funny joke about, obviously about the age differential between her and Trump. Then the shooting at the correspondence center happens. Melania Pounces says that he should be taken off the air. Trump does the same. Coincidentally or perhaps not, Brendan Carr is now vowing to review Disney's licenses that it gets from the FCC earlier than when they come up in 2028. And now Disney is in this kind of a legal stalemate with the government over the licenses. Unbelievable.
C
But this one just feels like, like the news Disney CEO Josh Tomorrow. This feels like an easier decision. Brandon Carr and the fcc, they wouldn't even be able to. He can't actually remove Kimmel off the air. He can recommend it, correct?
A
Yes. And he can also have a sham trial at the FCC with a preordained outco, take away the ABC licenses.
C
Wouldn't that. That would get appealed and then that would get appealed. I mean, this would. This would take forever for that to actually be implemented.
A
It's instantly appealable, and it just becomes a legal fight. And Disney will ultimately win this legal fight. But the question is, how much is this going to annoy them? How much is it going to lead to the discovery process or Brendan Carr getting a platform to attack Disney, which they don't love? You know, Disney's one of those brands where they are for everybody and they have multiple businesses that depend on red states and blue states attending the parks. So they don't like it when the government is on a soapbox attacking them. And that's what this is ultimately going to be, because it's not. I mean, my prediction is they are going to spank the government if this actually goes to some kind of appeal. And even the conservative commentators on this subject are lining up behind Disney. Ted Cruz and some of the Republican lawmakers are like, what are you doing now in their defense? Brandon Carson. This is about DEI and not about whatever Jimmy Kimmel may have said on the show. Even on dei. They lose also because Disney is smart enough to not have smoking guns about. Exactly. You know, what their, their preferences in hiring and stuff are going to be. I think they lose on that ground, and I think they lose on the First Amendment ground as well.
C
I know there's been a lot of rumors about, oh, when is Kimmel going to step down and retire? He has to stay through Trump's presidency just because he's having too much fun fighting with him every six months.
A
I honestly don't think this is that much fun for him. I think that it's scary whenever the president and his supporters are attacking you and your family. But I also think that he has to stay out of principle.
C
Yes.
A
He can't let Trump outlast him.
C
Yeah.
A
And if he were to step down, it doesn't matter if Kimmel, you know, has some illness or has some other project he really wants to do. Doesn't matter what happens if Kimmel steps down, Trump will declare victory, and he can't have that.
C
So do you have a prediction coming off of this? What is your exact prediction?
A
That Disney is going to win on all counts. And ultimately, I think that the FCC will back down. I don't actually think they will follow through with this, because I think Trump will ultimately read the room, and it's. It's better for him to just use Disney as a punching bag rather than have to actually defend this claim in some kind of appeals process.
C
Well, I look forward to the third installment of this trilogy.
A
Will it be the rise of Skywalker of the FCC battles? They're going to bring back the emperor. Somehow he returned. It'll be, you know, some. Some crazy Steve Bannon character or something like that. All right, today's call. She was brought to you by Holiday Inn. They kept the global icon status and upgraded pretty much everything else from refreshed rooms to dining.
B
Done.
A
Right, It's a new day and a whole new stay at Holiday Inn. Book today@holidayin.com that's the show for today. I want to thank my guest, Lucas Shaw, producer Craig Horbeck, our editor, Jon Jones, and I want to thank you. We will see you a couple more times this week.
E
Stitch Fix. Stop shopping. Get styled.
B
Not today.
E
Sweatpants. Somebody's wearing jeans that fit.
B
Wow. No photos, please. I'm just a regular dad who happens to have a stylist. I really look my best when someone
C
else makes the decisions.
B
Hey, we can all see you two way mirrors.
E
Just share your size, style, and budget, and your stylist sends personalized looks right to your door. Stitch Fix. Get started today@stitch fix.com. i want to hug you. I'm gonna hug you. I'm coming. I'm coming in for a hug.
The Town with Matthew Belloni (The Ringer), May 4, 2026
This episode explores the seismic shift at Netflix, as the streamer agrees to give Greta Gerwig’s upcoming Narnia film ("The Magician’s Nephew") an exclusive 49-day theatrical window before streaming. Host Matthew Belloni and Bloomberg's Lucas Shaw dissect how this decision came about, what it means for Netflix's future relationship with theaters, and the evolving studio ecosystem. The conversation extends into Netflix's ambitions for IP, the business impact of theatrical releases, and broader trends in Hollywood distribution.
[00:00–04:52]
[04:54–07:34]
[07:34–11:03]
[11:03–14:13]
[14:13–18:08]
[18:36–21:15]
[21:15–24:47]
[24:47–25:42]
[25:42–26:28]
“It’s a $40 billion global business that Netflix could take a piece of. And basically everybody else in the movie ecosystem has decided, except for Apple, that theaters are worthwhile. Netflix, not our model—outdated.”
— Matt Belloni ([10:01])
“You have one of the most talented and bankable directors of her generation...and a project with global resonance...I mean, I don’t know if it’s going to work in theaters, but it is the type of movie that people make for theaters, not just for viewing at home.”
— Lucas Shaw ([06:20])
“Everything else makes sense here. All the players are doing what they do...The big mystery here is why did Ted [Sarandos] blink?”
— Matt Belloni ([14:00])
“A true entertainment studio media company has multiple lines of business, not just streaming...and they are trying to expand into the other areas...how do we create durable IP?”
— Lucas Shaw ([22:28])
“These shows don’t have the long hit horizon that they did in traditional linear. They burn out faster for most.”
— Matt Belloni ([25:09])
Netflix’s decision to release Greta Gerwig’s Narnia in theaters represents a pivotal (and reluctant) experiment, potentially signaling the streamer’s slow shift toward traditional Hollywood practices around IP, franchise-building, and exclusive windows. Success could make this a template for select blockbusters—and further blur the line between streaming disruptor and old-school studio.