The war between the theatrical experience and streaming platforms is intensifying with every passing day. While a large section of consumers may prefer the convenience of watching high-quality, exclusive films at home, the industry’s titans are drawing a sharp line in the sand, and James Cameron is standing firmly on the side of cinema.
In a recent interview on the podcast The Town with Matthew Belloni, Cameron slammed the strategies employed by giants like Netflix to gain Oscar eligibility, calling the practice of limited theatrical runs “fundamentally rotten to the core.” For Cameron, the Academy Award is meaningless if it does not represent a genuine commitment to the communal, large-screen experience.
Platforms like Netflix finance prestige projects and then release them for a week or ten days in a handful of theatres, effectively prioritising their streaming window while still qualifying for the awards circuit. Cameron dismissed this as “sucker bait”, a cynical tactic that devalues both the film and the award itself.
“A movie should be made as a movie for theatrical, and the Academy Awards mean nothing to me if they don’t mean theatrical. I think they’ve been co-opted, and I think it’s horrific,” said the Titanic and Avatar director in his interview.
Cameron, the master of blockbuster visual cinema, considers the theatrical release not as a marketing step, but as the essential artistic medium for a film. On the other hand, Ted Sarandos, Netflix’s chief, strongly believes that “theatrical is dead”. For Netflix, the cinema is merely a pathway to an awards trophy that legitimises the company’s content for its streaming subscribers.
Cameron’s concerns go beyond awards lobbying. He also weighed in on the rumours of Netflix potentially acquiring a major studio like Warner Bros., cautioning that such a move would be a “disaster”.
Even if streaming giants promise to preserve traditional movie strategies after acquiring a studio, Cameron simply doesn’t buy it. He believes the platforms’ primary goal is to render theatres obsolete by constantly pushing the ease of streaming. He fears that if Netflix were to acquire a major studio, it would only accelerate the decline of the traditional Hollywood model. That is why he supports another buyer, such as Paramount.
Cameron does not believe Netflix should be disqualified outright, but he imposes a strict condition that elevates the standard from a loophole to a true commitment.
For a Netflix film to justifiably compete for an Oscar, Cameron argues that it must commit to a “meaningful release in 2,000 theatres for a month”.
This condition is designed to force streamers to participate in the actual theatrical marketplace, proving their faith in the product and contributing to the ecosystem of cinema owners.
Cameron also appeared particularly unsettled by the fact that major filmmakers like Guillermo del Toro (Frankenstein) and Greta Gerwig (directing Narnia) have turned to Netflix. These directors are known for crafting unique, high-quality cinema, and their projects may now bypass traditional theatrical releases altogether. This, he argues, only reinforces his concern that some of the most significant films of our time could become confined behind subscription paywalls rather than celebrated on the big screen. Stay tuned for more updates.
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