Netflix is giving theater owners a Thanksgiving gift.
The streaming giant announced Thursday that “Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery” will open in around 600 theaters in the United States for one week beginning November 23 before becoming available to stream worldwide on November 23. from December.
The largest theater chains, AMC Theatres, Regal Cinemas and Cinemark, have agreed to the deal, a first for top exhibitors. Cinemark has screened Netflix movies in the past. But Regal and AMC have previously refused to work with the company because it disagreed with the exclusive theatrical release periods and financial terms typically offered by traditional studios. Terms of the deal for “Glass Onion” were not disclosed.
However, the news is now a welcome relief for the industry after last month, in which theaters generated just $328 million in ticket sales. That was the lowest number in September since the same period in 1996, with the exception of the pandemic year of 2020. The original “Knives Out,” starring Daniel Craig as quirky detective Benoit Blanc, was a sleeper hit in 2019. It cost $40 million to make and grossed $165 million in North American theaters and $311 million worldwide. It was considered a prime example of how studios could successfully release movies based on original ideas in theaters.
But the chances of replicating that theatrical success seemed to be crushed last year when Netflix invested $465 million for writer-director Rian Johnson to move his star-studded franchise to the streaming service for its next two iterations.
“I’m thrilled that Netflix has worked with AMC, Regal and Cinemark to bring ‘Glass Onion’ to theaters for this one-of-a-kind sneak peek,” Johnson said in a statement. “These movies are made to thrill audiences and I can’t wait to feel the energy of the audience as they experience ‘Glass Onion.'”
The film’s raucous reception at its debut at the Toronto Film Festival last month inspired Netflix to pursue a more expansive theatrical strategy than it has for other films.
Whether this development means that Netflix is willing to take a more traditional approach to theatrical distribution in the future remains to be seen. The streaming service said it also did not plan to publicly report how the film fared at the box office during its week-long run.
Additionally, Netflix has no intention of reporting its box office gross for the stunt at the end of its week-long run.