By any metric, Netflix’s Knives Out sequel, Glass Onion, did fantastic at the box office this past week.
So well, in fact, the obvious question now is: Why the heck did Netflix put the movie in just ~700 theaters — and only for one week?
The numbers
Netflix grabbed the rights to Knives Out for $469m after the 2019 movie pulled in ~$165m domestically and ~$313m globally. That movie, which played in 3.4k+ theaters, notched a $41.4m Thanksgiving opening.
For Glass Onion, Netflix chose to put the movie in ~700 theaters for one week, and release it on Netflix on Dec. 23.
- In its five-day Thanksgiving opening, Glass Onion pulled in $13.3m+. In the same period, Disney’s Strange World earned $18.9m — across 4.1k+ theaters.
If I’m Netflix, here’s what I’m wondering: Would my users be upset if I made my movies available in theaters for longer? And is it OK to risk minimal subscriber churn if it means bringing in tens of millions of more dollars?
