Netflix CEO Ted Sarandos said he believes that last year’s mega summer blockbusters, “Barbie” and “Oppenheimer,” would have performed just as well if they had debuted on the streaming platform.
“Barbie” pulled in $155 million during its first three days in theaters, making it the highest opening of 2023, and went on to make $1.44 billion worldwide. Meanwhile, the historical drama “Oppenheimer” earned $82.4 million during its debut and $951 million overall.
Sarandos discussed his thoughts during a newly published interview with The New York Times. When the interviewer asked what type of content doesn’t fit at Netflix, the entertainment exec replied, “I don’t think that there’s a clear answer because the best version of something may work really well for Netflix but just hasn’t worked to date. There’s some obvious ones, like we don’t do breaking news and that kind of thing, because I think there’s a lot of other outlets for it. People aren’t looking to us for that.”
The NYT reporter mentioned the major theatrical releases of last summer. “Are there things that just don’t feel like they’re in your wheelhouse right now?” the interviewer asked.
“Both of those movies would be great for Netflix,” Sarandos replied about “Barbie” and “Oppenheimer.”
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“They definitely would have enjoyed just as big an audience on Netflix,” he continued, “And so I don’t think there’s any reason to believe that certain kinds of movies do or don’t work. There’s no reason to believe that the movie itself is better in any size of screen for all people. My son’s an editor. He is 28 years old, and he watched ‘Lawrence of Arabia’ on his phone.”
Earlier this year, Sarandos said Netflix’s original movies “are attracting some of the biggest audiences in the world.”
He also mentioned that the streaming giant won’t be changing its approach.
“We do not plan to change our strategy or the mix [of licensed and original films]. It’s always going to be that kind of blend of, first window, second window and deep catalog. We think that formula works best to entertain the world,” he said in January.
