The Netflix original movie, Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery, was released in theaters before coming to the streaming platform. This unique release model was a major success, Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos said during the company’s earnings release this week, according to Deadline.
“I’m thrilled with every aspect of the release of Glass Onion,” Sarandos said when asked if he had any regrets about releasing it in theaters first. “I think what you saw was a lot of excitement. We drove a ton of buzz with that theatrical release, and we created a bunch of demand and that demand we fulfilled on our subscription service.”
Putting Glass Onion in theaters helped drive demand for the Netflix release and was a successful marketing move, Sarandos said.
“Our core business is making movies for our members to watch on Netflix, and that’s what we’re really focused. Everything else is really a tactic to drive excitement around those films,” he said.
Glass Onion debuted in theaters over the Thanksgiving weekend and played in theaters for a week before coming to Netflix on December 23. The movie earned $15 million from its very limited theatrical run, setting a record for a Netflix movie.
Netflix founder Reed Hastings said putting Glass Onion in theaters was purely a “promotional tactic” to help drive engagement and subscriptions to Netflix. “We are not trying to build a theatrical business,” Hastings said, according to Deadline.
In other Netflix news, Hastings is stepping down as co-CEO and becoming executive chairman of Netflix. As for the Knives Out series, Rian Johnson is returning for a third Knives Out movie.
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