Dunkirkdirector Christopher Nolan calls Netflix’s film strategy “pointless” and declares that he will never work with them while speaking out against the streaming giant in a new interview. Nolan makes his movies for the big screen, whether it’s a 70mm print of his latest movieDunkirkor his Dark Knight trilogy. Nolan is trying to give the viewer an immersive experience in the theater.Dunkirkis 106 minutes of intensity tailor-made for the IMAX screen, to get the full effect of being in the middle of war, on the ground, in the sea, or in the air, aided by sound design since there’s not a whole lot of dialogue.
The director sat down withIndieWireto promote his upcomingDunkirkand the conversation ended up on Netflix and their model of not releasing their original movies in traditional theaters.Christopher Nolanexplained his irritation with the streaming juggernaut. He explains.
“Netflix has a bizarre aversion to supporting theatrical films. They have this mindless policy of everything having to be simultaneously streamed and released, which is obviously an untenable model for theatrical presentation. So they’re not even getting in the game, and I think that they’re missing a huge opportunity.”
Netflix has recently gotten serious with the release of their original content and they have roped in some pretty large projects, like the upcoming American adaptation ofDeath Note, which as been compared to Christopher Nolan’s own movies. And then shelled out quite a lot of cash for Martin Scorsese’sThe Irishman, which stars Robert De Niro and Al Pacino. But none of these projects have been given atraditional theatrical releaseyet.
“I think the investment that Netflix is putting into interesting filmmakers and interesting projects would be more admirable if it weren’t being used as some kind of weird leverage against shutting down theaters. It’s so pointless. I don’t really get it.”
Nolan does have a point, but at the very leastNetflixis trying to get some interesting projects off of the ground and into the public’s eyes.Stranger Things, though a television series, was reportedly passed on by just about every major player in the business today until Netflix financed it.
Netflix may be slightly changing their tune as the upcoming Martin Scorsese movieThe Irishmanwill see a small theatrical run to be considered for the Academy Awards. But, even with Amazon’s model, most people will more than likely stream the upcoming movie on their laptop or tablet. A lot can be said about what the streaming model is doing to Hollywood, but it is catering to something that public definitely wants, which is convenience and the power of having it right NOW.
