Some have argued that if Netflix hadn’t stepped up to acquire Alfonso Cuarón’s intensely personal 135-minute, black-and-white, Mexico-set, Spanish-language art film, some other company would have, but the truth is, “Roma” could only exist at this moment, when Netflix is willing to gamble on the kind of movies no studio would back (considering that, over the past quarter-century, only a dozen foreign-language films have earned more than $15 million in U.S. Yes, it’s still picking up castaways from other companies (like “The Cloverfield Paradox,” a rejected and rebranded Paramount discard, or Warner Bros.’ unwanted child “Mowgli: Legend of the Jungle”) and likely acquired “Bird Box” as a favor to Netflix film honcho Scott Stuber (who had initiated the project at Universal before joining the company), but it’s swooping in to pick up exciting movies, and developing projects that no other company in town would make. More important, something qualitative has changed with Netflix “content” - that abhorrent catch-all word used to describe movies, series, and whatever other sausage it pipes out to subscribers’ devices. Still, “Bright” was the beginning of something, and “Bird Box” marks its continuation, proving how the right kind of Netflix release can become a genuine event - in a way that few theatrical releases or televised broadcasts still manage to achieve. For example, just this week, what does it mean that 45,037,125 Netflix accounts watched “Bird Box” in its first seven days? How many eyeballs does that translate to? (Some share passwords or watch with friends, while others no doubt auto-play to an empty room.) How many minutes constitute “watching”? And why can’t we get those figures on other films, like “ Roma”? And they did, far outstripping the number of viewers that ever would have gone to see such a film in theaters.īack then, much of Netflix’s dealings were shrouded in secrecy (still are) and protected from meaningful analysis because the company only selectively shares its numbers. It cost a fortune - reportedly $90 million, because stars had to be paid up front, since there was no box office for them to split down the road - and was dismissed by many as an “Alien Nation” rehash, but it caused an undeniable phenomenon: Here was a (smart) star-driven, effects-heavy blockbuster that audiences could watch at home. And then a funny thing happened: “Bright.” OK, I know mine was practically the only non-rotten review it got, but “Bright” was the movie that changed my outlook on Netflix.
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