Ted Sarandos, Netflix's co-CEO, wants everyone to know that if his company acquires Warner Bros. Discovery, they won't immediately kill theatrical releases and turn everything into streaming content. He's promised to include premium video-on-demand (PVOD) in the theatrical window, meaning films won't go straight to Netflix after 45 days.
Okay. But should we actually believe him?
The statement, reported by TheWrap, is clearly aimed at calming fears in Hollywood that Netflix would gut one of the last major studios committed to theatrical releases. James Cameron just sent a scathing letter to lawmakers about exactly this concern. Theater owners are nervous. Industry veterans are skeptical.
And they should be. Netflix's entire business model has been built on getting content into the app as quickly as possible. For years, they refused to give films meaningful theatrical runs because it delayed streaming availability. They've softened that stance recently—Glass Onion got a limited theatrical release, as did awards contenders like Roma and The Irishman—but it's never been their priority.
Now Sarandos is promising that Warner Bros. films would get proper theatrical windows, including PVOD. PVOD, for the uninitiated, is the premium rental period between theatrical and subscription streaming—when you can rent a movie at home for $20 before it hits the regular streaming service.
On paper, this sounds reasonable. In practice, it means Netflix is still prioritizing getting films into homes rather than keeping them in theaters. PVOD exists because studios realized they could monetize the window between theatrical and streaming. It's not a vote of confidence in theaters; it's an acknowledgment that theaters are part of a larger revenue chain.
The real question is whether Sarandos has the institutional will to maintain theatrical commitments when they conflict with Netflix's streaming metrics. If a Warner Bros. film is underperforming in theaters but could juice subscriber numbers on Netflix, which wins?
Historically, Netflix has chosen data over tradition every time. They canceled beloved shows based on completion rates. They restructured their film division to focus on volume over prestige. They're a tech company that happens to make entertainment, not an entertainment company that uses tech.
Sarandos is saying the right things. He's smart enough to know that acquiring Warner Bros. and immediately killing theatrical would trigger regulatory scrutiny and industry backlash. But promises made during an acquisition negotiation have a funny way of evolving once the deal closes.
Theater owners want guarantees. Cameron wants guarantees. The problem is that in streaming, the only guarantee is that subscriber growth matters more than anything else.
In Hollywood, nobody knows anything—except that Ted Sarandos has spent two decades building a company that disrupted theatrical distribution. Asking us to believe he'll suddenly become its protector requires a leap of faith most industry veterans aren't willing to make. Yet.
