Ted Sarandos says Netflix will commit to 45-day theatrical releases

Though Netflix’s plan to buy Warner Bros. Discovery has prompted concerns about how the deal might hurt the movie theater business, the streamer’s co-CEO says that there is nothing to worry about.

In a new interview with The New York Times, Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos said that, should the WBD acquisition go through, the streamer will commit to 45-day theatrical release windows for the legacy studio’s upcoming releases. Sarandos insisted that Netflix has no intentions of disrupting “a theatrical distribution engine that is phenomenal and produces billions of dollars,” and that he believes there is value in the movie theater experience.

“I’m giving you a hard number,” Sarandos said. “If we’re going to be in the theatrical business, and we are, we’re competitive people — we want to win. I want to win opening weekend. I want to win box office.”

Though Sarandos previously said that Netflix’s plan was always to continue with “traditional” release windows, the streamer had not publicly commented on exactly how many days it planned to screen projects in theaters. That uncertainty — and Sarandos’ comments last April about movie theaters being “outmoded” — led many to speculate that the company might begin fast-tracking new features to streaming while leaving theater owners in the lurch. But in the new interview, Sarandos said his previous comments were being taken out of context and that he was merely trying to point out how going to movie theaters isn’t feasible for everyone.

“I mean, like the town that Sinners is supposed to be set in does not have a movie theater there,” Sarandos reasoned. “For those folks, it’s certainly outmoded. You’re not going to get in the car and go to the next town to go see a movie.”

Sarandos is correct that movie theater density isn’t uniform everywhere. And last year, Michael O’Leary — CEO of the Cinema United theatrical trade association — said that 45-day theatrical release windows are a new baseline that the industry needs for continued success. But this acquisition could send a signal to audiences that they can simply stay home and wait for new releases to become available on the Netflix platform. And even if the new company commits to this new standard, it could still be terrible for the industry as a whole.