Earlier this week, Netflix announced that it would premiere their first original movie, Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon: The Green Legend. Some felt that it was a successful opening salvo against the theatrical distribution model that has dominated the film industry since, essentially, the beginning of the film industry. We were not convinced. It sounded like Netflix got its hands on a straight-to-video sequel no one wanted to release theatrical and were making a mountain out of a molehill. It’s not like anyone gets excited when a straight-to-video sequel to Timecop comes out, right? Who cares?
But this might be a real game changer.
Adam Sandler will produce and star in four new films that we be exclusively available on Netflix, the company reported earlier today (via Coming Soon). Although not all of Sandler’s films are enormous hits at the box office these days, they typically make money and there seemed to be no serious threat that Adam Sandler would downgrade his career. This, it would appear, is being perceived as a purely lateral move. His movies do great on Netflix, and now that’s where at least four of them will premiere.
Related: Netflix Pretends Straight-to-Video Sequel is Prestigious
Unlike a straight-to-video sequel to a fifteen-year-old movie, Adam Sandler is still a potent force in the theatrical marketplace. (Whether or not his movies are actually any good.) So the move to Netflix, even though he will probably continue making movies for theatrical distribution, is a big deal that could help shift the industry in new directions… if that move is successful, of course.
Adam Sandler gave the following statement, which fails to reflect the seriousness of this business decision but does explicitly cater to the demographic to which Netflix is obviously trying to appeal:
“When these fine people came to me with an offer to make four movies for them, I immediately said yes for one reason and one reason only….Netflix rhymes with Wet Chicks […] Let the streaming begin!!!!”
William Bibbiani is the editor of CraveOnline’s Film Channel and the host of The B-Movies Podcast and The Blue Movies Podcast. Follow him on Twitter at @WilliamBibbiani.
