Going to the movies is a great experience, but you know what’d be even better than that? Watching brand new movies from the comfort of your home on the same day they premiere or even earlier than that. Theaters must hate that kind of thinking. But after killing cable with its popular streaming service, Netflix seems ready to spearhead a movie watching revolution.
The streaming juggernaut crushed expectations for the second quarter of the year, adding 5.2 million of new customers, 2 million more than its forecast. The company made $2.785 billion in the June quarter, of which $66 million represents net income — profits are up 50% compared to the same period last year.
Netflix seems unstoppable right now, and these numbers will certainly make investors happy. More people are subscribing to Netflix, and most of them come from international markets — only 1.1 million of new customers in the second quarter are based in the USA.
In addition to providing a steady stream of original TV series content, Netflix now wants to challenge the film business, even if that means angering Hollywood and theaters in the process.
“We understand that our approach to films – debuting movies on Netflix first – is counter to Hollywood’s century-old windowing tradition,” Netflix explained in its quarterly earnings letter. “But just as we changed and reinvented the TV business by putting consumers first and making access to content more convenient, we believe internet TV can similarly reinvigorate the film business (as distinct from the theatrical business). This year we will release 40 features that range from big budget popcorn films to grassroots independent cinema.”
That’s certainly an impressive number of movies hitting Netflix this year. But what’s even more interesting is Netflix’s stance towards movie theaters. That “as distinct from the theatrical business” parenthesis seems to indicate that Netflix doesn’t really care whether cinemas will be on board when it comes to screening movies that would be available from home.
Time to grab the proverbial popcorn, movie fans, and see what happens next. What’s clear, however, is that we’re going to stream more and more original Netflix movies from our homes in the very near future.
