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Netflix Keeps Original Movies Flowing

January 31, 2025 by Robert Marich Leave a Comment

Oscar Isaac "Frankenstein" from Netflix.

Netflix’s large slate of original movies serves as a big marketing lever. The world’s leading streamer with more than 301 million subscribers globally (90 million in U.S./Canada) unveiled its slate of 39 original films for the remaining 11 months of this year. It’s a wide mix of big-budget glitz, medium-budget fare, feature-length documentaries and animation, many with big-name talent (that’s about twice as many titles as a major studio’s annual theatrical slate).

Highlights are gothic thriller “Frankenstein” from acclaimed director Guillermo del Toro and mystery sequel “Knives Out 3” starring former James Bond franchise star Daniel Craig. Pictured above is a “Frankenstein” scene of actor Oscar Isaac holding a mysterious vial (from Del Toro’s social media).

Wrote Liam Mathews for the Gold Derby awards website: “The biggest new announcements in the slate include the formal announcement of “Jay Kelly,” three-time Academy Award nominee Noah Baumbach‘s latest film; a ‘heartbreaking comedy’ featuring George Clooney and Adam Sandler in the large ensemble cast; “Eddie,” a biographical documentary about one of Hollywood’s most elusive stars, Eddie Murphy; and a Charles Manson documentary from Academy Award winner Errol Morris.”

There’s constant speculation that streamers will abandon original films, in favor of TV series whose episodic format is a lure for subscribers to renew. But the Netflix movie slate is substantial.

Netflix 'In Your Dreams' animation
Netflix’s film slate includes original animation “In Your Dreams.”

Its high-profile originals with top Hollywood talent are also focal points of marketing the subscription. The messaging promotes the specific titles on Netflix, figuring a broad pitch won’t motivate signups. Not all its titles are heavy hitting and those are simply promoted internally with the vaunted Netflix algorithms that pitch content based on individual viewing patterns of each subscriber.

Netflix has made, telecast or has scheduled 705 original films since jumping into original content in 2013. Oscar front-runner “Emilia Perez” is a Spanish-language film from Netflix that began streaming Nov. 13.

To be sure, Netflix is the video streamer least interested in theatrical runs. “We are in the subscription entertainment business, and you can see in our results, it’s a pretty good business.” Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos said on an earning conference call in October.  “Our top 10 films that premiere on Netflix all have over 100 million views, among the most watched films in the world. … We believe that not making (subscribers) wait for months to watch the movie that everyone’s talking about adds that value.”

But there are exceptions. The Netflix big-budget “Narnia” fantasy film is getting a two-week run on Imax theaters on Thanksgiving holiday 2026, and then will pop up on Netflix at Christmas 2026.

Besides in-house originals, Netflix acquires fresh theatrical films with short windows from theatrical from Sony Pictures Entertainment and also Illumination Entertainment, the Universal Pictures-based animator behind the “Despicable Me” movies. For instance, the Illumination deal funnels theatricals to Netflix within eight months of cinema premieres.

The films and other content will be promoted at Netflix’s Tudum fan event May 31 scheduled to originate in Los Angeles and streamed to 11 locations around the world. The name Tudum is the audio chime “two-doom” that accompanies Netflix’s logo on TV, and this fan event dates to 2020.

Related content:

  • Netflix PR: You Are Not Ready for What’s Next
  • Netflix video: Sizzle Reel for 2025

Filed Under: digital distribution, featured, news Tagged With: branding

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