Netflix plans less expensive movies with Scott Stuber’s exit – The Hollywood Reporter
Scott Stuber
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The end of Scott Stuber’s tenure as head of Netflix’s film division didn’t come as a shock. But it seems like it’s been coming for so long that one of the producers who dealt with the streamers said when he heard it had finally happened, he didn’t know if to believe it. “I kind of ignored when anyone said Scott was out, because I’d been hearing that for over two years,” he says.
When the time finally came, the most striking thing about Stuber’s exit was how different it was from Netflix’s usual surprise toss: This time, there was a laudatory press release, and Stuber’s email account was still up and running, presumably to remain in place until… March. .
Despite the lack of drama and despite co-CEO Ted Sarandos’ assurances in a January 23 earnings call that the original film strategy won’t change, some Hollywood executives and agents say it could reveal a major shift in Netflix’s strategy. , the streamer’s $5 billion commitment to WWE — announced just hours after news of Stuber’s exit broke — suggests the company is rethinking how it deploys its annual $17 billion content war chest. (Netflix has not explained how that money will be allocated.)
Netflix has spent heavily on original films, and the results haven’t been impressive. Stuber has made no secret of his view that maintaining quality control is impossible given the sheer volume of films Netflix has insisted on releasing. The company produced 90 original films in 2018, most of which were supervised by Stauber. Since then, the company has steadily reduced the number of original films: 85 in 2022 and 49 last year, when the company restructured its film division and laid off a number of workers. However, this year Netflix will release no fewer than 36 original English-language films, far more than any other company.
Even as the production line slowed, Stauber did not shy away from one of his biggest frustrations: Sarandos’ persistent refusal to give a full theatrical run for any film. Hope flashed when the streamer agreed to the bid Glass onions2022 Take out the knives The sequel has a wider theatrical release than any previous Netflix film, showing in about 600 theaters for a week. The film grossed $16 million in that short window and Stauber dreamed that Sarandos might develop a taste for money.
That didn’t happen, and Stober began to find himself unable to compete for hot movie packages at a time when established directors could get a theatrical release even from other tech invaders, like Amazon and Apple. One veteran studio executive says the policy puts Netflix at a significant competitive disadvantage, since movies clearly have more impact when released in theaters. “Filmmakers are tired of making movies for streaming that are flawless,” he says. .
If Stober was dissatisfied with Sarandos’ approach to films, Sarandos clearly had disappointments of his own. He didn’t and wouldn’t say it publicly, but he was probably hoping some of the more expensive movies the service offered would be better. One recent example is Zack Snyder Rebel Moon: Part One, and it’s sitting at a dismal 23 percent on Rotten Tomatoes (and there’s still a sequel to come). Despite the heavy spending on films such as IrishNetflix has never won an Oscar for Best Picture, while Apple took home gold in its first attempt in 2021 with… Coda. (This year is expensive Moonflower KillersHowever, the story is likely to be different.)
One veteran film executive says he wonders why Netflix would bother producing movies at all when it can get record-breaking results from licensing an old show like suit. In a way, Netflix has gone full circle: The streamers started out churning out original films as a defensive move when studios backed away from licensing their products to the service, but now, as this person says, “you have companies desperate for money licensing their product for pennies on The dollar.”
Several industry insiders say that Stauber’s ultimate fate at Netflix became clear in January 2023, when TV head Bela Bajaria was promoted to chief content officer, with Stauber reporting to her instead of Sarandos. “When Bella got the job instead, I understood,” this person says. “TV will always be king there. And Bella – to her credit – lives, eats, sleeps and drinks Netflix (while) Scott would say, ‘The hamster wheel I’m on is a motherfucker.'”
Having made between $16 million and $18 million annually, Stuber has no financial concerns. With strong talent connections, sources say he will launch his own company. (One says he has already arranged financing, while others are not so sure.) And Stuber is diplomatic enough that he might end up producing some films for Netflix.
Netflix says Bajaria will appoint a head of its own films, and an insider says the studio will still place at least two bets on big-ticket films in the future. But one leading agent says confidently that Netflix – like Amazon – is refocusing its ambitions. “Middle-of-the-road programming – that’s what you could say Bella knows,” he says. “That’s where they think they want to go: lowest common denominator, mass-market filmmaking. And the number of quality filmmakers doing projects there will diminish.”
A senior studio executive agrees, saying he believes Netflix has positioned itself as a last resort when it comes to movie projects. “I don’t think they’ll stay in the movie business” if Sarandos continues to refuse to release movies in theaters, this person says. “They can just license bullshit. They have great work, but it’s not the original work of cinema. Even the Oscar vanity thing will eventually go away, too.”
