This month, streaming giant Netflix struck an unprecedented deal with three major North American theater chains to bring "Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery" to theaters for a week during this Thanksgiving holiday. This schedule is a month earlier than the original date (December 23) when "Knives Out 2" was originally scheduled to go live on Netflix. Such an operation is the first time in history for Netflix, which has always been an "enemy" of theaters.

Knives Out 2 poster

"Knives Out 2" won a good reputation

In the past, Netflix would only make an exception for a small number of literary films like "Roma" to be released in a small number of independent cinemas for a short period of time because of the desire to impact the Oscars. Therefore, once the release plan of "Knives Out 2" was announced, on the one hand, the American audience responded enthusiastically, and the film was booked out early during Thanksgiving; I am very optimistic about this kind of cooperation, and it is expected that more movies produced by Netflix will continue this new distribution model in the future.

However, the subsequent public statement of Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos (Ted Sarandos) slapped theaters in the face. He said with a strong attitude: "Nowadays, most people are used to watching movies at home. Netflix's movies are first shot for Netflix users, and I hope they can watch them on the online platform."

Sarandos' words hit the enthusiasm of the theater chain and made it difficult for outsiders to understand. In this case, why did he have to let "Knives Out 2" enter the theater during Thanksgiving, because the film does not seem to be a literary film like "Roma" that is expected to hit the Oscars, and it is not enough to be shortlisted required to enter the theater. Or, maybe this is just Sarandos being extra generous in thanking the entire crew of "Knives Out 2" for their hard work. After all, as filmmakers, most people hope that their works can be on the big screen and meet the audience in theaters.

At the same time as the theatrical release agreement for "Knives Out 2" was finalized, another new film under Netflix, "BARDO, False Chronicle of a Handful of Truths" (BARDO, False Chronicle of a Handful of Truths) is also confirmed to be directed by Alejandro in March next year. Dero Gonzalez Inarritu's hometown of Mexico, a large-scale theatrical screening. However, this is more of a goodwill release from Netflix to thank director Inaritu for his cooperation, rather than an adjustment in the overall distribution strategy. In short, the theater industry, hoping for Netflix's sudden turnaround, may ultimately be disappointed.

The first "Knives Out" released in 2019 was produced and distributed by Lionsgate. The film, starring Daniel Craig, Ana de Armas, Chris Evans, etc., takes the route of an old-school inference film. With the strong appeal of the actors and the ingenious plot setting, "Knives Out" won a global box office of 311 million US dollars and made a big profit (the production cost was 40 million US dollars).

In the spring of 2021, Netflix beat Amazon and Apple to bid for the distribution rights to the second and third installments for a whopping $469 million. Netflix is said to be paying more than $100 million for director Rian Johnson and star Daniel Craig alone. And these two also strongly demanded that "Knives Out 2" be released in theaters as much as possible, so this exception was made.

Of course, Netflix doesn’t just look at the eyes of its collaborators. Business is business. Whether the movie can attract attention and whether it can create a topic is also the key. In fact, at the Toronto Film Festival in September and the London Film Festival in October, "Knives Out 2" has been the first to have a special screening, and the word of mouth is quite good. At present, the praise rate on the film review website "Rotten Tomatoes" has reached 91%. . The protagonist of this sequel is still the great detective Blanco played by Daniel Craig, and the characters appearing in the new case are Edward Norton, Kate Hudson, Dave Bautista, Hugh Grant, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Yo-Yo Ma, Ethan Hawke and more. As its release and launch schedule draws nearer, there has also been a wave of "guess the murderer" on social media. Needless to say, the actor who ranks second only to Craig is naturally the most suspect.

On October 16, 2022, local time, in London, England, the 66th London Film Festival closing film "Knives Out 2: The Glass Onion" premiered. Daniel Craig and the creators took a red carpet selfie. People's Vision

Netflix launches 'Beggar's Edition' to fight subscriber churn

Last week, Netflix also announced its latest quarterly report. From July to September, it added 2.41 million new global users, successfully reversing the decline in the first two quarters of this year. It is believed to be the fourth season of "Stranger Things", "The Sandman" and "Monster". : The huge appeal of new titles like Dahmer – Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story, and it worked. Netflix said that the company expects to be back on the path of accelerated growth, and the secret to its turn from recession to prosperity is to serve existing users as well as possible. "Users who get excited after watching Netflix's series and movies will definitely tell their friends that as the news spreads, the number of new Netflix subscribers grows."

Of course, in the third quarter of last year, Netflix added 4.4 million subscribers, 2 million more than in the same period this year. That is to say, although Netflix has indeed returned to the path of user growth at present, the speed and intensity of growth are still not the same as last year. On the one hand, it is because the epidemic has slowed down and the boom in the stay-at-home economy is fading; on the other hand, there are more and more competitors and stronger relationships.

In this regard, Netflix announced earlier that it will launch a "Beggars Edition" subscription service in the United States on November 3 - as long as they are willing to watch advertisements, subscribers can become members for a monthly fee of $6.99, which is cheaper than the current cheapest monthly fee. $3. Australia, Brazil, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Mexico, South Korea, Spain and the UK will follow suit later.

Netflix's latest quarterly report and this multi-pronged positive approach immediately won an enthusiastic response from the capital market. In the past few days, its stock price has soared from $240 to $289 at the close on Friday, reaching its highest point since April 19. However, this is still a huge gap from its $591 a share at the beginning of this year, which also shows that Netflix's great cause of turning the tide is only halfway completed. Moreover, rising global inflation will also make the next part of their journey harder.

A few days ago, the US accounting firm KPMG released a market poll, showing that 20% of more than 1,000 respondents said that at least one streaming media service has been canceled this year due to inflationary pressures. Of course, there are also 31% of respondents who firmly stated that they do not plan to cancel any streaming services within the year.

In the same period, the British polling company Kantar Worldpanel found that there are currently 16 million British households signed with at least one streaming service provider, which is 930,000 fewer than the survey results at the end of last year. In other words, in the face of the rising cost of living, nearly a million British households have chosen to say goodbye to streaming platforms such as Netflix, Amazon, and Disney+ in the past nine months to save money. Just need to pay for food, electricity, etc.

In the Guardian, published last Saturday, journalist Patrick Collinson was also keen to advise the British public on how to save as much money as possible to get through this winter. In addition to going to the mall for free heating, going home after taking a shower in the gym, and automatically delaying get off work hours, he also specifically mentioned the way to go to the cinema to watch movies in the afternoon. Generally speaking, the ticket price for afternoon screenings is relatively cheap, and some British cinemas also offer preferential services for senior citizens. You can watch a movie at 3.5 pounds (about 29 yuan), and you can get a free afternoon tea by the way. Saving hours on electricity and gas bills in your home, as well as visual enjoyment and physical and mental relaxation, goes a long way.