Netflix to Report Box Office Numbers for First Time — SkimNews
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- Netflix will publicly report box office numbers for the first time ever with "La Bola Negra," opening on four screens in LA and NY (including Netflix's The Paris and two AMC locations) under a record 47-day theatrical exclusive window
- Co-CEO Ted Sarandos said at the Screentime conference that Netflix released 30 movies into theaters last year with bespoke strategies, but framed "La Bola Negra" and "Train Dreams" as art-house films to be treated differently from four-quadrant titles like Greta Gerwig's "Narnia"
- Netflix's theatrical-friendly messaging shifted when it was lined up to buy Warner Bros. Discovery's film assets before Paramount swooped in with a better deal, with Sarandos and Greg Peters publicly championing 45-day windows
- Upcoming tentpoles with traditional box office reporting include David Fincher's "The Further Mis-Adventures of Cliff Booth" (AMC's roughly 200-300 IMAX locations over Thanksgiving) and Greta Gerwig's "Narnia: The Magician's Nephew," plus Danny Boyle's "Ink" and Peter Berg's "Mosquito Bowl"
- Netflix has not aggressively hired theatrical-experienced executives for its test balloon, though it recently added communications veteran Katie Martin Kelly (Warner Bros., Paramount) and retains distribution chief Spencer Klein (ex-Fox, Weinstein Company)
- Netflix agreed to more favorable exhibitor terms than the standard 50-50 ticket split to secure screens and the exclusive window, per IndieWire; the streamer had no comment
- Netflix laid off about 1,000 workers on Wednesday — one of its biggest staffing cuts ever — as it hits a plateau adding U.S. subscribers and no longer regularly reports total subscriber counts
Why it matters: By voluntarily reporting box office and offering exhibitors better-than-standard 50-50 splits, Netflix is conceding leverage it long held as a streaming-first platform, and 'La Bola Negra' is a deliberate low-stakes test balloon ahead of high-profile releases like Brad Pitt's 'Cliff Booth' and Gerwig's 'Narnia,' where weak results will now be public.
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