- Netflix has clarified its stance on movies coming to theaters amid its deal to buy Warner Bros.
- Company director Ted Sarandos rejected the idea that they would only be available for a 17-day period.
- Sarandos also disputed claims that he called the movie-going experience “outdated.”
Netflix CEO Ted Sarandos has clarified the company’s stance on the theatrical release window model ahead of its potential deal to buy Warner Bros.
Speaking to The New York Times, Sarandos dispelled rumors that Netflix would reduce the amount of time that new movies developed by Warner Bros. would spend in theaters. And to show he was serious, Sarandos said that if Netflix’s $82.7 billion deal to acquire Warner Bros. is ultimately approved, any new movie the famed studio makes will remain in theaters for the 45-day period accepted by the industry.
Rumors that Netflix could alter the theatrical release model for Warner Bros. films first surfaced in a Deadline article. As part of a January 2, 2026 report analyzing the stranger things 5 Regarding the finale’s presentation on the big screen, Deadline claimed its sources said: “Netflix has favored a 17-day window, which would crush the theatrical business, while circuits like AMC believe the line should stay around 45 days.”
This new information came to light two weeks after Netflix reiterated its desire to continue releasing Warner Bros. movies through the traditional 45-day window. In fact, The Hollywood Reporter quotes Sarandos as saying, “Our intentions, when we purchase Warner Bros., will be to continue releasing Warner Bros. studio films in theaters with traditional windows.”
Now, responding to a comment from the New York Times that people believe the world’s best streaming service had done a 180-degree turn on that promise, Sarandos argued that that simply wasn’t the case.
“I understand that people are moved because they love it and they don’t want it to go away,” he said. “And they think we’ve been doing things to make it go away. That’s not the case.
“When this deal closes, we will have a theatrical distribution engine that is phenomenal and produces billions of dollars in theatrical revenue that we do not want to put at risk,” Sarandos continued. “We’ll run that business largely as it is today, with 45-day windows. I’m giving you a hard number. If we’re going to be in the theater business, and we are, we’re competitive people, we want to win. I want to win opening weekend. I want to win [the] Lockers.”
During the same interview, Sarandos rejected suggestions that he and Netflix have diminished the cinematic experience and, depending on what you read, that the streaming titan wants to kill it for good.
Responding to a question about previous comments he made about such an experience being an “outdated idea,” Sarandos said: “You have to hear that quote again. I said ‘outdated to some.’
“I mean, like the city that [Warner Bros. period horror film] sinners It’s supposed to be set, it doesn’t have a movie theater there. For those people, it is certainly out of fashion. You’re not going to get in the car and go to the next town to see a movie. But my daughter lives in Manhattan. It could walk to six multiplexes and is in theaters twice a week. For her it was nothing old-fashioned.
“I would say one of the other myths about all of this is that we were thinking about going to theaters as competition for Netflix,” Sarandos added. “It’s absolutely not. When you go out to see a movie in the theater, if it was a good movie, when you get home, the first thing you want to do is watch another movie. If anything, I think it helps, you know, foster a love of movies.
“I didn’t get into this business to hurt the theater business. I got into this business to help consumers, to help movie fans.”
Looking for more Netflix coverage to watch? Read my review of The RIPNetflix’s new action-crime thriller from Matt Damon and Ben Affleck. Once you’re done, catch up on the news that Netflix and Sony Pictures have renewed their multi-million dollar partnership to have the latter’s movies stream on the former’s platform first.
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