The battle lines are being drawn…
It’s the conflict over program content during a period when Netflix is about to face major competition from Disney’s new streaming service, as well as Comcast and Warner Media.
Who’s going to blink first?
The current chess game is this fall’s planned digital streaming Netflix release of director Martin Scorsese’s highly anticipated organized crime drama, ‘THE IRISHMAN,’ co-starring Robert DeNiro, Joe Pesci and Al Pacino.
Will the reportedly $159 million, Netflix produced film be available at your local multiplex? That seems to be the sticking point right now.
According to a recent story in the New York Times, Netflix is currently discussing the possibilities with at least two major theater circuits. The hang-up: The theaters insist on the right to show the film exclusively for approximately 90 days before it is made available for simultaneous streaming.
An impasse?
We’ll have to wait and see. Hopefully it will work itself out better than when ‘ROMA’ faced a similar stand off and received a very limited theatrical playoff—which didn’t help it in the Oscar race.
(Note: For Oscar eligibility and consideration a film must have a minimum of a seven day engagement in an L.A. based theater.)
However the fight for ‘THE IRISHMAN’ finally works its way through the hallowed halls of Hollywood will certainly influence the future of day-and-date distribution by studios.
That’s why the major players are watching this current situation so carefully.
Something has to give.
The question is who will blink first—and to what extent?
Stay tuned as ‘THE IRISHMAN’ puts the pedal to the metal.
