Netflix and Paramount have made it official. After months of flirtation, testing the waters with projects like “The Cloverfield Paradox” and “Annihilation,” the film studio and the streaming giant have unveiled a new agreement that would see Paramount create new films for Netflix in a more official capacity.
According to Paramount boss Jim Gianopulos, during a recent earnings call (via Deadline), the studio will further develop its relationship with the streaming service by creating content that will be launched directly through Netflix.
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“Our priority is to expand our role as a major global content supplier,” Gianopulos said. “As such, we’re exploring various new revenue streams in addition to our traditional theatrical releases as a producer of first-run films and television for other media platforms.”
As alluded to earlier, Paramount and Netflix have already gotten into bed together on a number of projects. Earlier this year, the studio (in)famously sold the distribution rights to the highly-anticipated ‘Cloverfield’ sequel to Netflix, who in turn released the film without any promotion in a planned mic-drop moment. What was initially seen as a coup for the streaming service quickly turned into a fairly high-profile dud, as the film never caught on with viewers and critics. It was seen, in retrospect, as a clear cash-out and content dump for Paramount.
Nevertheless, the studio teamed with Netflix again with “Annihilation,” allowing the streaming service to distribute the film in all territories, minus North America and China. That film, as opposed to “The Cloverfield Paradox,” was a critical darling, and a bit of a commercial bomb. Recently, Paramount has developed a lovely, more stable partnership with Netflix, by producing series such as the recently-released “Maniac” and the hugely popular “13 Reasons Why.”
As for the size and scope of this new deal, Gianopulos was coy with the details, only saying it would be for “a small number of titles” and that the studio would utilize the partnership “when and where it makes sense.”
“In some ways, it’s just an evolution from the days when studios were making MOWs [movies of the week] for the networks,” Gianopulos continued. “The difference, of course, is that the quality of some of these films is much higher, making these relationships even more valuable. And it plays to the strength of a large, well-established studio like Paramount.”
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In other words, Paramount will continue to make movies, and when they’re unsure of the box office future, will probably just distribute them through Netflix. Oh, and they’ll probably push out some more low-budget fare that will be made specifically for the streaming service.
The film industry is experiencing a monumental shift in the distribution paradigm, and it appears that Paramount is banking on the fact that more studios (outside of the big boys like Disney and WB) will probably be doing similar deals. We’ll just have to see how smart of a move this becomes long term for both parties.