Christopher Nolan slams Netflix for “missing a huge opportunity”

Iconic filmmaker Christopher Nolan has criticized Netflix for its “mindless policy” on theatrical releases. The Dunkirk director told Indiewire that “Netflix has a bizarre aversion to supporting theatrical films”:

“They have this mindless policy of everything having to be simultaneously streamed and released, which is obviously an untenable model for theatrical presentation. So they’re not even getting in the game, and I think they’re missing a huge opportunity.” he said.

Nolan has a reputation for making huge epic movies suited for the big screen, and none more so than Dunkirk which is optimized for theaters in 70mm. He is a fan of Amazon’s Prime Video though which gives movies a theatrical release before they’re streamed:

“You can see that Amazon is very clearly happy to not make that same mistake. The theaters have a 90-day window. It’s a perfectly usable model. It’s terrific.”

Nolan does appreciate Netflix’s approach to original film-making, but thinks the company needs to change its “pointless” digital distribution model:

“I think the investment that Netflix is putting into interesting filmmakers and interesting projects would be more admirable if it weren’t being used as some kind of bizarre leverage against shutting down theaters. It’s so pointless. I don’t really get it.”

Dunkirk has had brilliant reviews, including our own, and you can see it in THEATERS (sorry Netflix) from tomorrow.