Is This The End of Netflix’s Blank Check Art House Films?

Over the last five years, Netflix has lured many an auteur director to its studio. Names like Martin Scorsese, Jane Campion, Spike Lee, Alfonso Cuarón, David Fincher, Ava Duvernay, Bong Joon-ho, Noah Baumbach, and many more have been convinced to make movies that the majority of audiences would watch not in a theater, but on a TV or computer screen in their living room. How did the company convince such purist filmmakers to come to the land of streams? With money, of course.

But now, according to a new business report from The Hollywood Reporter, the days of big checks for prestigious—and expensive—art movies may be over. Though the sources for the report are all anonymous, “ranging from executives to producers to agents with ties to the company,” writes reporter Borys Kit, it’s clear that a shift in Netflix’s film strategy is coming. It’s no surprise to hear that, given Netflix’s recent plummeting stock prices, the company is looking to spend less money on its infamously colossal original movie slate. (In 2021, the streamer released over 100 original movies, and there are at least over 80 planned for 2022.) This includes, according to the unnamed people interviewed by THR, making fewer movies overall, as well as giving less money to big-name directors who might not otherwise choose Netflix. Said one source, “This tendency to do anything to attract talent and giving them carte blanche is going away.”

The most glaring blank check example is Scorsese, whose 2019 crime epic The Irishman cost the streamer an estimated $175 million, making it one of the most expensive Netflix movies of all time, as well as the most expensive film of Scorsese’s career. Though his check was the biggest, Scorsese is not the only filmmaker who was afforded a bigger budget and a longer shoot than ever before. Okja remains Bong Joon-ho’s priciest film, at about a $50 million budget (compared to Parasite‘s $12 million). Spike Lee’s Vietnam movie, Da 5 Bloods, reportedly cost somewhere between $35 million and $45 million, making it one of Lee’s most expensive films, second only to Inside Man. Campion’s The Power of the Dog came in at around $35-39 million—about five times the budget of her 1993 Oscar-winner, The Piano—and, after being interrupted by the COVID-19 lockdown, was afforded about four months of shooting time.

The investment came with critical praise and awards for all of those movies, but perhaps that’s not enough for Netflix anymore. Even though The Irishman earned Netflix quite a few Oscar nominations, it failed to take home any wins. The streamer has been coveting the Best Picture statue for some time and has come close with 2018’s ROMA, with 2019’s The Irishman, with 2020’s Mank, and most recently with 2021’s The Power of the Dog. But, despite expensive award campaigns, the studio can’t seem to seal the deal. (Ironically, last year’s Best Picture winner, CODA, made Apple TV+ the first streamer to win the award; not Netflix.)

Certainly, it sounds like Netflix’s co-CEO Ted Sarandos isn’t interested in financing art movies anymore. On the Netflix earnings call in April, he said, “Just a few years ago, we were struggling to out-monetize the market on little art films. Today, we’re releasing some of the most popular and most-watched movies in the world. Just over the last few months, things like Don’t Look Up and Red Notice and Adam Project, as examples of that.” It’s worth noting that all of the examples listed by Sarandos were more or less panned by critics—all three sit at under a 60 percent critical rating on the review aggregation website Metacritic. It’s safe to say The Adam Project won’t be a Best Picture frontrunner this year.

That said, not all of Netflix’s art house films have been pricey. Perhaps there is hope for good movies on Netflix yet. Alfonso Cuarón’s autobiographical drama ROMA cost an estimated $15 million, while Noah Baumbach’s Marriage Story came in at around $18 million. Still, even if Netflix still wants talented filmmakers on its roster, will those filmmakers be willing to sacrifice the theatrical experience in favor of having their masterpiece living next to Red Notice 2 on the Netflix homepage? Without the allure of a big check, it seems less likely than it once was. But business strategies change every day—we’ll have to wait and see.