Netflix Quietly Weighed Cinema Ambitions Before Warner Bros. Move

For years, Netflix’s top brass have been adamant: their original films belonged on the small screen, not in the local multiplex. Yet, in a recent earnings call, co-CEO Ted Sarandos let slip that the company had, in fact, mulled over the idea of launching a cinema distribution arm well before their audacious bid for Warner Bros. Discovery. The revelation comes as a bit of a curveball, given Sarandos’s well-documented reluctance to embrace the world of theatrical releases—beyond the bare minimum needed for awards eligibility, that is.

During the Q4 2025 results briefing, Sarandos and fellow co-CEO Greg Peters addressed the company’s evolving stance. The pair explained that, despite previous public comments, they were never fundamentally opposed to the idea of cinema releases. Rather, the rapid expansion of their streaming platform had simply taken precedence. Sarandos put it plainly:

“We were not in the theatrical business when I made those observations. Remember, I’ve said it many times, this is a business, not a religion. So conditions change. Insights change. And we have a culture that we reevaluate things when they do. We debated many times over the years whether we should build a theatrical distribution engine or not, and in a world of priority-setting and constrained resources it just didn’t make the priority cut.”

Shifting Priorities and the Warner Bros. Factor

Now, with the acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery, Netflix is poised to inherit a ready-made global cinema distribution network. Sarandos was candid about the advantages:

“We will have the benefit of a scaled, world-class theatrical distribution business with more than $4 billion of global box office. And we’re excited to maintain it and further strengthen that business.”

For a company that’s spent years fielding questions about its aversion to the big screen, the move marks a significant shift—though perhaps not as sudden as it appears.

Netflix’s public image has long been tied to its streaming-first philosophy. While a handful of its high-profile films have enjoyed limited runs in cinemas—mainly to tick the boxes for Oscar consideration—the company’s leadership has always insisted that streaming was the main event. Sarandos’s latest remarks, however, suggest that the idea of a hybrid approach has been on the table more than once, only to be shelved in favour of other priorities.

Blockbusters That Never Saw the Big Screen

In recent years, Netflix has produced a string of major titles: the two Knives Out follow-ups, Taron Egerton’s action-packed Carry-On, the streamer’s previous chart-topper Red Notice, and last year’s KPop Demon Hunters, to name a few. Any of these could have raked in substantial box office takings had they been given a proper cinema run before landing on the platform. Instead, the company’s focus remained squarely on keeping subscribers engaged and the monthly direct debits rolling in.

It’s a strategy that’s worked, by and large, but it’s also left some industry watchers scratching their heads. Why not cash in on both fronts? The answer, it seems, lies in a mix of resource allocation and a desire to keep the streaming engine humming. The Warner Bros. deal, though, could be the catalyst that finally nudges Netflix into a more prominent role in the world of cinema releases—albeit with a twist. Films released under the Warner Bros. banner will benefit from the established distribution machine, while those carrying the Netflix name are likely to remain exclusive to the platform, at least for now.