Netflix-produced movies...will we get Blu-ray's and DVD's? (1 Viewer)

[Dick]

I contacted Netflix today and spoke to Harley, asking him if three Netflix-produced flicks (OKJA, MUDBOUND and WHAT HAPPENED TO MONDAY) would be released to physical media.

He put me on hold to check this out. He came back to report that no one had informed him or the Netflix "team" that these were scheduled for DVD and Blu-ray release.

I'm a little worried about this. I am a collector and want to own physical media. I watched all three of these films on Netflix, but none of them has been announced for DVD or Blu release. OKJA and MUDBOUND are superb films, and should not be restricted to streaming, which does not produce the same quality on large displays as decent Blu-rays would. WHAT HAPPENED TO MONDAY does not quite match the quality of the first two, but I'd buy the Blu-ray if it came out. OKJA is an intense, brilliant, and finally bittersweet film from the maker of THE HOST and SNOWPIERCER. MUDBOUND is an awesome film about racial prejudice and the people who find a way to see around it.

C'mon, Netflix, get these films out to us in a format we can view on our large-screen or projector screen displays in their optimal quality.

Netflix Customer Service #: 866-579-7172.

 

[Jeff Adkins]

Don't they release things like House Of Cards on Blu-Ray? No reason to think they won't do the same for the feature films. They're going to want to recoup as much as they can out of their investment.

 

[Josh Steinberg]

It's going to depend on who the rights holder actually is. For instance, in the case of House Of Cards, that was produced by Sony and Netflix was merely the distributor.

If it's something that Netflix produced and owns 100% of the rights to, there's absolutely no incentive for them ever to put it out on a disc you can buy; it's more valuable to them as something you have to spend $9.99 a month in perpetuity to watch. If it was produced by someone else and Netflix is merely the distributor for it, the content creator is eventually going to want an additional source of revenue, but there is probably an extended period of exclusivity for Netflix.

 

[Worth]

Stranger Things is on DVD and blu-ray, and I think Netflix controls the worldwide rights to that.

 

[Josh Steinberg]

It's a Target exclusive, though, so it's not widely available - and Target probably offered some money for that privilege. So, it made financial sense for Netflix to take a payment from Target to sell that, especially as a lead-in for the (then) upcoming season. If that's how the deal went, then Target paid Netflix for the privilege of both selling Season 1 discs and promoting the Season 2 start, and for Netflix, that's a pretty good deal.

But there's no reason for Netflix to, say, put out Stranger Things 2 as a wide release tomorrow, when they can still get months and months of new sign-ups from people looking to watch it. The same goes for an original movie like Bright - the movie's value to Netflix is that if you want to see the new Will Smith movie (from the director of the worldwide hit Suicide Squad), you've got to pay Netflix to see it. For a while, that'll drive some sign-ups. When they're no longer getting any benefit from that, I could see the possibility of a disc coming out, but I would bet that it would not be on the same 2-3 month window that theatrical releases get these days.

 

[B-ROLL]

It's a Target exclusive, though, so it's not widely available - and Target probably offered some money for that privilege. So, it made financial sense for Netflix to take a payment from Target to sell that, especially as a lead-in for the (then) upcoming season. If that's how the deal went, then Target paid Netflix for the privilege of both selling Season 1 discs and promoting the Season 2 start, and for Netflix, that's a pretty good deal.

Or they could have provided them with the subscriber list for

Target ticket ...
As I recall target offered a "free 30 day trial" for NetFlix to new subscribers that were with Target ticket ...

 

[Jeff Adkins]

But there's no reason for Netflix to, say, put out Stranger Things 2 as a wide release tomorrow, when they can still get months and months of new sign-ups from people looking to watch it. The same goes for an original movie like Bright - the movie's value to Netflix is that if you want to see the new Will Smith movie (from the director of the worldwide hit Suicide Squad), you've got to pay Netflix to see it. For a while, that'll drive some sign-ups. When they're no longer getting any benefit from that, I could see the possibility of a disc coming out, but I would bet that it would not be on the same 2-3 month window that theatrical releases get these days.

I think you are probably right about the window being longer, but I'll bet a physical release will still come out at some point. Someone like LionsGate will probably offer them some money for Mudbound when the streams slow down.

 

[John Dirk]

It's going to depend on who the rights holder actually is. For instance, in the case of House Of Cards, that was produced by Sony and Netflix was merely the distributor.

If it's something that Netflix produced and owns 100% of the rights to, there's absolutely no incentive for them ever to put it out on a disc you can buy; it's more valuable to them as something you have to spend $9.99 a month in perpetuity to watch. If it was produced by someone else and Netflix is merely the distributor for it, the content creator is eventually going to want an additional source of revenue, but there is probably an extended period of exclusivity for Netflix.

Thanks for breaking it down Josh. I hadn't considered that train of thought but, sadly, I think you're correct.

 

[John Dirk]

It's a Target exclusive, though, so it's not widely available - and Target probably offered some money for that privilege. So, it made financial sense for Netflix to take a payment from Target to sell that, especially as a lead-in for the (then) upcoming season. If that's how the deal went, then Target paid Netflix for the privilege of both selling Season 1 discs and promoting the Season 2 start, and for Netflix, that's a pretty good deal.

But there's no reason for Netflix to, say, put out Stranger Things 2 as a wide release tomorrow, when they can still get months and months of new sign-ups from people looking to watch it. The same goes for an original movie like Bright - the movie's value to Netflix is that if you want to see the new Will Smith movie (from the director of the worldwide hit Suicide Squad), you've got to pay Netflix to see it. For a while, that'll drive some sign-ups. When they're no longer getting any benefit from that, I could see the possibility of a disc coming out, but I would bet that it would not be on the same 2-3 month window that theatrical releases get these days.

Josh. Again I think your insight is spot on but Netflix is entering dangerous territory here as this sort of approach will almost certainly lead to more pirating of their service

 

[Dick]

I just now spoke to Jakai at Netflix and asked about Blu-ray releases of Okja and Mudbound (which was nominated for an Oscar!) and here is Netflix's "Official" position:

"There are no plans at this time to release these films on Blu-ray."

This company is squeezing us to go the streaming route, and I absolutely refuse to go that way. Anyone like-minded?

 

[John Dirk]

I just now spoke to Jakai at Netflix and asked about Blu-ray releases of Okja and Mudbound (which was nominated for an Oscar!) and here is Netflix's "Official" position:

"There are no plans at this time to release these films on Blu-ray."

This company is squeezing us to go the streaming route, and I absolutely refuse to go that way. Anyone like-minded?

I don't think Jakai's response should necessarily be considered "official."

 

[Mark-P]

Considering that Beasts of No Nation came out on Netflix two and a half years ago and still isn’t available anywhere else, I’d say Netflix is definitely not playing ball with alternate media.

 

[Worth]

...This company is squeezing us to go the streaming route, and I absolutely refuse to go that way. Anyone like-minded?

I don't see why it has to be an either/or situation. I prefer to own discs for movies that I know I'll want to watch repeatedly, but I'm also perfectly happy to stream movies and shows on Netflix and the like. I don't see how it's any different really from cable movie channels, yet there seems to be a level of animosity against Netflix that doesn't seem to exist against HBO.

 

[Dick]

I don't see why it has to be an either/or situation. I prefer to own discs for movies that I know I'll want to watch repeatedly, but I'm also perfectly happy to stream movies and shows on Netflix and the like. I don't see how it's any different really from cable movie channels, yet there seems to be a level of animosity against Netflix that doesn't seem to exist against HBO.

I agree -- it needn't be an either/or. Right now it is, in favor of streaming only.

 

[Dick]

I don't think Jakai's response should necessarily be considered "official."

He was reading from script on his monitor. I could simply tell by his inflections and the fact that he repeated that quote twice exactly the same way. I've worked in a call center. You go with the canned answers the company provides. That makes it "official."

 

[John Dirk]

He was reading from script on his monitor. I could simply tell by his inflections and the fact that he repeated that quote twice exactly the same way. I've worked in a call center. You go with the canned answers the company provides. That makes it "official."

Agreed and congrats on surviving a Call Center. I've been there too. Thanks.

 

[mrz7]

"Grace and Frankie" is a Netflix series (starring Jane Fonda and Lily Tomlin) and it's on DVD (the first 2 seasons so far). The show is going on it's 4th season but so far no announcements on when the 3rd season is going to be released on DVD. I think if a movie or tv series is popular enough and there is a demand, Netflix will eventually release it on physical media (DVD or Blu-Ray).

 

[Ethan Riley]

There exists a dvd screener of "Mudbound" for awards consideration. I don't know if those ever pop up on ebay (or if ebay takes them down when they do).

 

[maxfabien]

I contacted Netflix today and spoke to Harley, asking him if three Netflix-produced flicks (OKJA, MUDBOUND and WHAT HAPPENED TO MONDAY) would be released to physical media.

He put me on hold to check this out. He came back to report that no one had informed him or the Netflix "team" that these were scheduled for DVD and Blu-ray release.

I'm a little worried about this. I am a collector and want to own physical media. I watched all three of these films on Netflix, but none of them has been announced for DVD or Blu release. OKJA and MUDBOUND are superb films, and should not be restricted to streaming, which does not produce the same quality on large displays as decent Blu-rays would. WHAT HAPPENED TO MONDAY does not quite match the quality of the first two, but I'd buy the Blu-ray if it came out. OKJA is an intense, brilliant, and finally bittersweet film from the maker of THE HOST and SNOWPIERCER. MUDBOUND is an awesome film about racial prejudice and the people who find a way to see around it.

C'mon, Netflix, get these films out to us in a format we can view on our large-screen or projector screen displays in their optimal quality.

Netflix Customer Service #: 866-579-7172.

I'm a collector too. I have every Best Picture Oscar winner on Blu-ray, or dvd if Blu-ray isn't available. I was concerned when "Roma" was nominated for Best Picture. I wouldn't be able to add it to my collection if it won. However, "Green Card" won instead. But now I'm concerned about Scorsese's upcoming film, "The Irishman", released by Netflix. I'd want that in my collection regardless.

 

[Brandon Conway]

I'm a collector too. I have every Best Picture Oscar winner on Blu-ray, or dvd if Blu-ray isn't available. I was concerned when "Roma" was nominated for Best Picture. I wouldn't be able to add it to my collection if it won. However, "Green Card" won instead. But now I'm concerned about Scorsese's upcoming film, "The Irishman", released by Netflix. I'd want that in my collection regardless.

Green Book