Netflix really blew it with Glass Onion. I think I understand their business model, it makes sense in a McKinsey management consulting sort of way, but here on the ground it seems to me like people who saw it in theaters loved it and the Netflix release met with a far more tepid response. It’s not just selection bias that the big fans ra…
Netflix really blew it with Glass Onion. I think I understand their business model, it makes sense in a McKinsey management consulting sort of way, but here on the ground it seems to me like people who saw it in theaters loved it and the Netflix release met with a far more tepid response. It’s not just selection bias that the big fans ran out to see it asap, it’s that it very purposefully frustrates and manipulates you. Seeing it with an audience whose lightbulbs are turning on at different intervals really helps you dismiss that discomfort and get swept away. Twitter says “the smashing went on too long” but the audience I was with knew a good rake joke when they saw one and were howling the entire time.
Anecdotally I’ve been hearing a lot of “the first half was too slow so I watched it in two parts” from my movie friends, which is certainly their prerogative but also wow, way to deflate the souffle.
I mean, you can assume that folks who did whatever they could to see Glass Onion in its very short release window were the folks most likely to really, really love it. You can also assume that NF makes more money having it in their system with some 'was briefly in theaters' buzz rather than a longer theatrical release which eats heavily into their huge investment.
Yeah, I don't think they're getting $100M in new subscribers by putting it on Netflix, but I think it would've made $100M if it had a real theatrical release (nor do I think they lose $100M in subscribers if they left it in theaters for a month or two).
Netflix really blew it with Glass Onion. I think I understand their business model, it makes sense in a McKinsey management consulting sort of way, but here on the ground it seems to me like people who saw it in theaters loved it and the Netflix release met with a far more tepid response. It’s not just selection bias that the big fans ran out to see it asap, it’s that it very purposefully frustrates and manipulates you. Seeing it with an audience whose lightbulbs are turning on at different intervals really helps you dismiss that discomfort and get swept away. Twitter says “the smashing went on too long” but the audience I was with knew a good rake joke when they saw one and were howling the entire time.
Anecdotally I’ve been hearing a lot of “the first half was too slow so I watched it in two parts” from my movie friends, which is certainly their prerogative but also wow, way to deflate the souffle.
I mean, you can assume that folks who did whatever they could to see Glass Onion in its very short release window were the folks most likely to really, really love it. You can also assume that NF makes more money having it in their system with some 'was briefly in theaters' buzz rather than a longer theatrical release which eats heavily into their huge investment.
Yeah, I don't think they're getting $100M in new subscribers by putting it on Netflix, but I think it would've made $100M if it had a real theatrical release (nor do I think they lose $100M in subscribers if they left it in theaters for a month or two).