For the first time, Netflix lets you know how many films are waiting for subscribers in the new year. Provides the title at the same time. And leaves the three stars Ryan Reynolds, Gal Gadot and The Rock in a trailer specially cut for the purpose kindly cancel: “We love making films for fans like you!”
–
70 feature films are set to premiere on Netflix in 2021. Regardless of any discussion about the quality of the content: That’s more than Warner Bros. and Disney are bringing to market together this year. Projected, the streaming giant will add one film every week, including the zombie adventure “Army of The Dead”, the third part of the Rom-Com saga “The Kissing Booth” and the action film “Red Notice” starring Reynolds, Gadot and The Rock.
–
One of the announced 70 films: The zombie thriller “Army of the Dead” – with Matthias Schweighöfer in a supporting role
Foto: Clay Enos / Netflix
–
–
Not everything in the list is new, if you take a closer look you will find many titles in the package that the group had announced earlier. But Netflix has two good reasons to start the big PR offensive now, and they only seem to contradict each other: One is the increased competition. The other her blatant weakness.
–
Disney + and HBO Max as serious competition
In contrast to the classic film studios, how the cinemas fared has always been irrelevant for Netflix’s business model. The group generates its sales through a subscription model. It was only recently announced that he would raise prices in Germany (the standard subscription by one euro, the premium subscription by two, the basic subscription remains unchanged).
So Netflix was reluctant to put its merchandise in the cinemas in order to get involved in the race for the Oscars. The studios, on the other hand, are still laboriously getting on the missed train of digitization and streaming and making up for lost ground.
–
After all, there is now a serious competitor at the start, namely Disney +, and Warner is also getting serious with HBO Max and announces that all films will be shown there at the same time as the cinema release in 2021. Reason enough for Netflix to remind audiences who’s still got the biggest choice when it comes to streaming entertainment.
–
At the same time, the disastrous figures show how badly the cinemas in the USA suffered from the pandemic in 2020: Revenues fell by 80 percent, from 11.4 billion in 2019 to 2.2 billion last year. Large cinema chains are facing bankruptcy. 65 percent of all cinemas are still closed in the USA, including in the major cinema cities New York and Los Angeles.
–
And the outlook for at least the first half of 2021 is getting increasingly bleak. The studios are still keeping a low profile. But it would be a big surprise if they actually launched the big titles announced for the next few weeks in theaters.
–
Netflix-Actiondrama »Outside the Wire«
Foto: Jonathan Prime / Netflix
–
–
It is already rumored in the industry that the next aria of the film postponements will be imminent. This affects films like “Cinderella” (planned US release February 5) and “The King’s Man” (March 12). But the new James Bond adventure “No Time to Die” (“No time to die”, Germany officially opens at the moment: April 2nd) and the Marvel comic book adaptation “Black Widow” (April 30th) threaten to fall again getting on the wheels of the pandemic after both films have been postponed several times.
Most studios now have their own streaming portals on which they could try to compete with Netflix with their movies. However, calculates the industry journal »Variety«that this only pays off for films in the medium budget segment. The big blockbusters, however, often expensive over 200 million dollars and the real crowd pullers in recent years, cannot bring in their costs through a purely digital evaluation.
–