If you can’t beat them, join them. That seems to be what legendary director Steven Spielberg has decided when it comes to his one-time foe, Netflix.
As The Daily Wire previously reported, in the past, the legendary director battled to blunt the streaming platform’s influence over the movie industry.
In 2019, for example, he lobbied the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to block Netflix films from qualifying for Oscar nominations, saying movies that don’t have a standard theatrical roll out present a “clear and present danger” for filmgoers. “Once you commit to a television format,” he said at that time, “you’re a TV movie. You certainly, if it’s a good show, deserve an Emmy, but not an Oscar. I don’t believe films that are just given token qualifications in a couple of theaters for less than a week should qualify for the Academy Award nomination.”
This wasn’t just an off-the-cuff opinion. In correlation with its chairman’s informal comments, his production company, Amblin Partners, also released a statement, arguing Spielberg was trying to salvage the traditional movie-going experience: “Steven feels strongly about the difference between the streaming and theatrical situation,” it said.
But it appears the man who helmed “Jaws,” “Raiders of the Lost Ark, “E.T.,” and “Schindler’s List” is giving up the fight. In a deal announced Monday, Amblin revealed it has entered into a partnership to produce multiple feature films per year for the streaming service.
According to Deadline, the Netflix deal will “co-exist side by side with the one Spielberg and Amblin have at Universal Pictures.”
“Neither will have first shot at Amblin properties,” reports the trade publication. “Spielberg will make some films for Universal, and others to be made for Netflix. The expectation is that Amblin will generate multiple films per year for Netflix, which has a voracious appetite for content and releases a new film per week. Amblin’s Universal deal was extended last December, at which time comments reflected the possibility that a streaming deal might be in the offing.”
While breaking the news, Spielberg signaled his commitment to bringing his distinctive style to small screens.
“At Amblin, storytelling will forever be at the center of everything we do, and from the minute [Netflix chief] Ted [Sarandos] and I started discussing a partnership, it was abundantly clear that we had an amazing opportunity to tell new stories together and reach audiences in new ways,” the four-time Oscar-winner said in a joint statement with Netflix. “This new avenue for our films, alongside the stories we continue to tell with our longtime family at Universal and our other partners, will be incredibly fulfilling for me personally since we get to embark on it together with Ted, and I can’t wait to get started with him, Scott, and the entire Netflix team.”
Netflix, too, seems all-too ready to let bygones be bygones, with Sarandos calling Spielberg a “creative visionary.” From a personal perspective he added, “My growing up was shaped by his memorable characters and stories that have been enduring, inspiring and awakening. We cannot wait to get to work with the Amblin team and we are honored and thrilled to be part of this chapter of Steven’s cinematic history.”
Spielberg’s next release will have an old-fashioned big screen roll out, however. His remake of the classic musical “West Side Story,” starring Ansel Elgort and Rachel Zegler, hits theaters in December.
The views expressed in this opinion piece are the author’s own and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.