- Netflix has clarified its stance on movies hitting theaters amid its deal to buy Warner Bros.
- Company CEO Ted Sarandos rejected the idea that they will only be available for a 17-day period
- Sarandos also disputed claims he called the cinema experience “outdated”
Netflix CEO Ted Sarandos has clarified the company’s stance on the theatrical release window model ahead of its potential deal to buy Warner Bros.
Speaking to The New York Times, Sarandos denied rumors that Netflix would reduce the amount of time that new films developed by Warner Bros. would use in the cinemas. And to prove he meant it, Sarandos stated that if Netflix’s $82.7 billion deal to acquire Warner Bros. eventually approved, all new movies the famed studio makes will stay in theaters for the industry-accepted 45-day period.
Rumors that Netflix may be changing the theater model for Warner Bros. movies first surfaced in a Deadline article. As part of a January 2, 2026 report that discusses Stranger Things 5 finale’s appearance on the big screen, Deadline claimed its sources said, “Netflix has been advocating a 17-day window, which would slow down the theater business, while circuits like AMC believe the series should be kept around 45 days.”
This new information came two weeks after Netflix reiterated its desire to continue releasing Warner Bros. films through the traditional 45-day window. In fact, The Hollywood Reporter quotes Sarandos as saying, “Our intentions in purchasing Warner Bros. will be to continue to release Warner Bros. studio films in traditional window theaters.”
Now, responding to a comment from The New York Times that people believe the world’s best streaming service had done a U-turn on that promise, Sarandos argued that simply wasn’t the case.
“I understand that people are emotional about it because they love it and they don’t want it to go away,” he said. “And they think we’ve done things to make it go away. We haven’t.
“When this deal closes, we will own a theatrical distribution engine that is phenomenal and produces billions of dollars of theatrical revenue that we don’t want to jeopardize,” Sarandos continued. “We’ll run that business pretty much as it is today, with 45-day windows. I’ll give you a hard number. If we’re going to be in the theater business, and we are, we’re competitive people — we want to win. I want to win opening weekend. I want to win [the] box office.”
During the same interview, Sarando dismissed suggestions that he and Netflix have looked down on the movie theater experience — and, depending on what you read, that the streaming titan wants to kill it off for good.
In response to a question about previous comments he made that he felt were an “outdated idea”, Sarandos said: “You have to listen to that quote again. I said ‘outdated for some.’
“I mean, like the city [Warner Bros. period horror film] Sinners supposed to be put in doesn’t have a cinema there. For these people, it is definitely out of date. You don’t want to get in the car and go to the next town to see a movie. But my daughter lives in Manhattan. She could go to six multiplexes and she is in the cinema twice a week. Not at all unfashionable for her.
“I would say one of the other myths about all of this is that we thought of going to theaters as competition for Netflix,” Sarandos added. “It’s absolutely not. When you go out to see a movie in the theater, if it was a good movie, when you get home, the first thing you want to do is watch another movie. If anything, I think it helps, you know, to encourage the love of movies.”
“I didn’t get into this business to hurt the theater business. I got into this business to help consumers, to help movie fans.”
Looking for more Netflix coverage to check out? Read my review of RIPMatt Damon and Ben Affleck’s new Netflix action-crime thriller. When you’re done, catch the news that Netflix and Sony Pictures have renewed their multibillion-dollar partnership, allowing the latter’s films to stream first on the former’s platform.
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