Meryl Streep has dominated awards shows for decades, making her one of the most iconic actresses to ever appear on the big screen. And yet, her next awards-contending film might be watched by a majority of film fans on their TVs, laptops, or phones. “The Laundromat” is the highly-anticipated legal drama directed by Steven Soderbergh and featuring an all-star cast that includes Gary Oldman and Antonio Banderas. It also happens to be a Netflix Original. But according to Streep, she doesn’t see any negative connotations with that label.
Speaking to Variety, Streep discussed the streaming world as we know it and how Netflix has radically altered the film distribution system forever. She commented that the service’s release strategy, which forgoes theaters (for the most part) in favor of a day-and-date streaming launch makes each film feel like an event. And it’s an “event-oriented” strategy that allows fans from all around the world to enjoy a project, and not just with people in the major coastal cities.
“If [‘The Laundromat’] were released in theaters, I don’t know, several thousand people in Manhattan, Boston and Los Angeles, who gravitate toward the material, would see it,” she said. “Netflix is in 133 million households globally. It will reach places where it would not have normally been found. And that’s great, because it really is for the audience who doesn’t know about it already.”
Steep’s ‘Laundromat’ co-star Banderas also talked about the streaming service and said that Netflix has brought many new jobs to international territories, as well as created more movie fans than ever before.
“I think what happened is that probably people are seeing more movies now than ever in the history of motion pictures but in different formats. We have to adapt,” he explained.
Regardless of Streep and Banderas’ thoughts on the matter, Netflix, and streaming in general, is clearly here to stay. And like it or not, the theaters and old-school film fans are definitely going to have to reckon with that reality. One thing that can’t be denied is that streaming services are giving platforms to more filmmakers than ever before, and that’s a great thing.
“The Laundromat” will arrive in theaters on September 27 and Netflix streaming on October 18.