Netflix, Theaters, and the Industry’s Selective Amnesia

Here’s the million dollar question, everyone is wondering

Who actually broke movie theaters?

Was it Netflix? Was it the studios? Was it the pandemic? Was it the economy?

Heck, was it the perfect cocktail of all four mixed together with a garnish of corporate ego and shortterm thinking?

To get to the answer we may have to rewind a little bit.

See, for over a decade, theaters weren’t exactly dying… but they weren’t crushing it either.

Attendance had been sliding year by year, like a slow leak in a tire nobody bothered fixing. Still, the wheels stayed on. Blockbusters thrived. Comic-Con hype kept the engines running. Giving spurts of higher attendance here and there.

But then 2020 hit. And the slow leak became a blown out tire on the freeway.

But here’s the part nobody likes to admit… The pandemic didn’t create the theatrical crisis. It accelerated the one the STUDIOS had already set in motion.

Because while everyone is pointing at Netflix like it’s the villain twirling a mustache behind the curtain, Warner Bros., Paramount, Universal, Disney and really every single legacy studio were quietly digging the grave long before COVID ever arrived.

They were all planning to go all in on streaming. Theatrical windows began shrinking. They began shoveling movies to digital ASAP. Tnen once the pandemic hit it was a perfect moment in time to train audiences just to stay home.

And then, two years later, those same studios had the nerve to stand there like…

“Wow… people aren’t going to the movies anymore… that’s weird.”

Yeah. No kidding.

Maybe the craziest part of all this is how Netflix and Ted Sarandos has been brutally consistent for years.

Netflix has always been a home first company and always planned to be.

He told Variety in April 2025 that the classic theatrical model is “outdated.” He said audiences are voting with their couches. He said the 45 day window (which was still relatively new) was old fashioned.

He didn’t hide it. He didn’t pretend otherwise. Hell the data in the chart above proves his statement.

Netflix was never trying to “save” theaters, but they were never tying to kill them either. They have just been playing their own game.

The legacy studios were the ones pretending they were still playing baseball while secretly switching to pickleball.

So when Sarandos publicly reassures the industry that, should Netflix acquire Warner Bros. assets, theatrical releases will continue, it’s honestly hilarious watching people react like this is some bombshell revelation.

Netflix didn’t cause the decline. Netflix didn’t destroy the window. Netflix didn’t force studios into panic launching their streaming arms.

The studios did that all by themselves.

Sure, Ted did say that theaters are “outdated.” and he did say the future is home consumption. Which he has absolutely been consistent on.

But here’s the part film Twitter refuses to compute… Netflix loves doing whatever they need to do to benefit Netflix.

If that means putting Award worthy movies in theaters… then yes they will put them in theaters. Do they see a benefit with a big marketing boost? Theaters here they come!

Making a theatrical play when you're suddenly acquiring Warner Bros.? Absolutely yes.

Because suddenly, it’s not Netflix releasing direct to stream. It’s Warner Bros., a studio with global distribution pipelines, decades of theatrical muscle memory, and franchises built specifically for the big screen.

If Netflix buys WBD assets, they're not buying a streamer they're buying a theatrical institution.

So of course Ted is going to say, “We’re keeping movies in theaters.” and of course he expects windows to evolve. He will absolutely say the experience needs to be more consumer friendly.

He’s not contradicting himself. He’s expanding the business as any savvy business man in his position would.

It’s not hypocrisy. It’s strategy.

If youare still wondering who caused the decline in Theater ticket sales, It sure as hell was Netflix.

Besides the astronomical cost to go to the theater, the number one culprit in all of this was the studios who…

• Shrank the window to 17 days.

• Dumped mid budget movies onto streaming.

• Told audiences “Don’t worry, it’ll be on MAX in three weeks.”

• Devalued theatrical in their marketing.

• Treated streaming like it was the new frontier… until Wall Street said “Nah.”

• And then pretended they had no idea why ticket sales were tanking.

Netflix didn’t train people to stay home. The studios did.

And now that theaters are struggling, now that streaming profitability is collapsing, and now that the old model is circling the drain…

Suddenly the studios love theatrical again. Suddenly their sacred. Suddenly it’s “the communal experience.” Suddenly they’re all listening.

Give me a break.

Netflix didn’t break anything. I’m not saying Netflix is the right buy for WBD, because I still do not believe they are the best choice.

But to sit there and act as if the big studios had nothing to do with what happened to the theatrical experience is laughable.

They abandoned theatrical when it was convenient, and now they want it back because they realized streaming only economics are a nightmare. And let’s be honest, they are afraid that the new kid on the block, Netflix, is about to become the biggest dog on the block if they are able to acquire WBD.

Times are a changin and studios, as well as fans can’t seem to accept this reality. The problem is. Its coming whether you accept it or not.