Following the announcement of Netflix acquiring Warner Bros., including HBO Max and HBO, Oscar-winning filmmaker of Anora, Sean Baker, commented on the topic, asking filmmakers to put their foot down to save the future of films. The director spoke at the Red Sea Film Festival in Jeddah, where he serves as the head of the international jury.
While he did start with the disclaimer that he "doesn’t think any of us should be commenting until we all know how [the deal] is going to play out," he added that when it comes to ensuring the three-month-minimum theatrical window, "filmmakers have to put our foot down."
As a strong and adamant opinion, he added, "For my next film, I don’t care what happens; I’m going to get a hundred-day theatrical window. That’s a little bit over three months, and I think that’s a good place at this moment. We should not be reducing theatrical windows; we should be expanding [them]."
Sean Baker then said that the importance of a film is reduced when it is immediately taken to streaming services post theatrical release. “This is how the filmmaker wants you to see his film, and everybody else can wait for it. When you’re going directly to streaming, it diminishes the importance of a film. The theatrical experience elevates the importance. The way you present it to the world is a very important thing.”
Having put his thoughts on the table clearly, Baker then established hope about the current generation of audience coming to theatres to watch and experience films. “In LA, when I go to movies, it’s usually Gen Z. I love that younger people are seeing the value in a communal experience and also one in which their focus is entirely on the film and not being distracted by everything else in the room.”
On Friday, Netflix announced that it was acquiring the studios from its parent company, Warner Bros Discovery (WBD). The total acquisition by Netflix will be worth $82.7 billion (equity value of $72.0 billion). While the acquisition works, it is unclear yet as to how this merger will affect Indian viewers, with JioHotstar hosting the majority of the HBO content.