Netflix has made a splash at the Cannes Film Festival, but not necessarily in the way that it hoped. The online streaming platform has dived into the world of original film content, using their resources to fund quite a few projects.
Initially, Netflix began producing original series such as House of Cards , The Crown , Orange is the New Black etc. Now, it has branched out in to producing full-length movies as well. Two of these Netflix-produced movies, Okja and The Meyerowitz Stories competed for awards at Cannes 2017. The films will then be available to be streamed online at Netflix.
The federation of French theatre owners are protesting against streaming a movie competing for the Palme d’Or online, contrary to the usual tradition of releasing it in local theatres. The federation succeeded in forcing the festival to declare that it would change its rules to make all future competition films commit to theatrical distribution in France.
While many at the Cannes agreed with this sentiment, actor Will Smith spoke in support of Netflix. Smith described how Netflix has been nothing but a positive force in his household allowing him and his family to watch films they might not have been able to see otherwise. And while Smith’s perspective may not have been too popular at the prestigious festival, around the world, Netflix films and TV shows seem to be growing in popularity.
Just on Wednesday, Hollywood actor Brad Pitt visited Mumbai to promote his Netflix film War Machine, a fictionalised war satire, which follows USA Army General Stanley McChrystal (played by Pitt) in Afghanistan.
During the function, Pitt had a tête-à-tête with Bollywood actor Shah Rukh Khan.
War Machine is being released directly to the streaming service on May 26, 2017. When asked why he chose to work with Netflix, Pitt said that the streaming platform takes bigger risks on original movies than studios in Hollywood right now.
Netflix also gives films a global platform, Pitt said. As the conflict between traditional cinema and online streamed movies heats up, you can expect to see people from all over the industry taking sides, just as we saw famous musicians take sides on the music streaming debate.
