In a first deal of its kind, Netflix and the Weinstein Company said Monday that they planned to release next year's sequel to the movie “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon” simultaneously across the globe on Netflix and a select number of Imax theaters.
The film, a follow-up to Ang Lee's Academy Award-winning martial arts drama, is the first major motion picture to make its debut on the streaming service and in movie theaters at the same time. It will be available on Aug. 28 at no additional fee to Netflix subscribers and is the first of several films that Netflix is backing that will follow this new model for release. Only Imax is involved; other theater chains will not screen the film.
Ted Sarandos, chief content officer at Netflix, said he hoped this deal would show Hollywood that the time had come to respond to what movie fans wanted, and to change the traditional method for releasing films — first in theaters then, typically several months later, for streaming.
“What I am hoping is that it will be a proof point that the sky doesn't fall,” Mr. Sarandos said. “These are two different experiences, like going to a football game and watching a football game on TV.”
The move underscores an eagerness at Netflix to shatter the traditional so-called windowing system for movies in the same way that it has rattled the structure of the television business, with TV shows now made available for streaming soon after they are broadcast on traditional networks. Netflix has also introduced entirely new models, releasing original series like “House of Cards” and “Orange Is the New Black” all at once.
“We fundamentally believe that the only way to attack the windowing system — that is the centerpiece of the business model of the movie industry versus what consumers want — requires an outsider,” said Rich Greenfield, a media an*lyst with BTIG Research. “Netflix already changed the TV business in a very, very significant way. The movie business is teed up next.”
Yet the deal also reflects the challenges that persist in breaking the system, particularly in film. The film, called “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon: The Green Destiny,” is a production of the independent Weinstein Company, not a major movie studio, and has a relatively modest budget. The partnership with Imax avoids one big problem: that the major theater chains refuse to break the system.