- Netflix has clarified its stance on films landing in theaters amid its deal to buy Warner Bros.
- Company head Ted Sarandos rejected the idea that they’ll only be available for a 17-day period
- Sarandos also disputed claims that he called the cinemagoing experience “outdated”
Netflix CEO ted Sarandos has clarified the company’s stance on the theatrical release window model ahead of its potential deal to buy Warner Bros.
Speaking to The New York Times, Sarandos dispelled rumors that Netflix would reduce the amount of time that new movies developed by Warner Bros. would spend in theaters. And, to prove he was serious, Sarandos stated that, if Netflix’s $82.7bn deal to acquire Warner Bros. is eventually approved, any new films that the famous studio makes will stay in cinemas for the industry-accepted 45-day period.
Rumors that Netflix might alter the theatrical release model for Warner Bros. movies first surfaced in a Deadline article. As part of a January 2, 2026, report discussing the Stranger Things 5 finale’s performance on the big screen, Deadline claimed that its sources said: “Netflix have been proponents of a 17-day window, which would steamroll the theatrical business, while circuits such as AMC believe the line needs to be held around 45 days.”
This new information came to light two weeks after Netflix reiterated its desire to continue releasing Warner Bros. movies via the traditional 45-day window. Indeed, The Hollywood Reporter quotes Sarandos as saying: “Our intentions, when we buy Warner Bros., will be to continue to release Warner Bros. studio movies in theaters with the traditional windows.”
Now, responding to a comment from The New York Times that people believe the world’s best streaming service had performed a U-turn on that promise, Sarandos argued that simply wasn’t the case.
“I understand that folks are emotional about it because they love it and they don’t want it to go away,” he said. “And they think that we’ve been doing things to make it go away. We haven’t.
“When this deal closes, we will own a theatrical distribution engine that is phenomenal and produces billions of dollars of theatrical revenue that we don’t want to put at risk,” Sarandos continued. “We will run that business largely like it is today, with 45-day windows. I’m giving you a hard number. 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 [the] box office.”
During the same interview, Sarandos rebuffed suggestions that he and Netflix have looked down on the cinemagoing experience – and, depending on what you read, that the streaming titan wants to kill it for good.
Replying to a question about previous comments he made about said experienced being an “outdated idea”, Sarandos said: “You have to listen to that quote again. I said ‘outmoded for some’.
“I mean, like the town that [Warner Bros. period horror film] Sinners is supposed to be set in does not have a movie theater there. 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. But my daughter lives in Manhattan. She could walk to six multiplexes, and she’s in the theaters twice a week. Not outmoded for her at all.
“I would say one of the other myths about all this is that we thought of going to the theaters as competition for Netflix,” Sarandos added. “It absolutely is not. When you go out to see a movie in the theater, if it was a good movie, when you come home, the first thing you want to do is watch another movie. If anything, I think it helps, you know, encourage the love of films.
“I did not get in this business to hurt the theatrical business. I got into this business to help consumers, to help movie fans.”
Looking for more Netflix coverage to check out? Read my review of The RIP, Matt Damon and Ben Affleck’s new Netflix action-crime thriller. Once you’re done, catch up on the news that Netflix and Sony Pictures have renewed their multi-billion dollar partnership for the latter’s movies to stream first on the former’s platform.
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