Tensions are high between streaming services and film studios that are unhappy with Netflix and Amazon’s eagerness to bypass theatrical distribution

This article is more than 1 year old

This article is more than 1 year old

Helen Mirren has launched a broadside against Netflix at CinemaCon in Las Vegas. Speaking at a Warner Bros presentation of her new film, The Good Liar, she said: “I love Netflix, but fuck Netflix.”

Mirren continued: “There is nothing like sitting in the cinema.” The convention, at which studios air sneak peeks of forthcoming films, has previously been sceptical about streaming services.

In 2017, Sony Pictures chairman Tom Rothman remarked “Netflix my ass!” following the presentation of footage from Denis Villeneuve’s Blade Runner 2049 – a film which, he implied, could only be appreciated in the cinema.

Tensions are high between streaming companies and the studios, distributors and film-makers that are unhappy with Netflix and Amazon’s eagerness to bypass theatrical distribution entirely.

Steven Spielberg’s suggestion in February that Netflix movies be barred from Oscars contention chimes with Cannes artistic director Thierry Frémaux’s ruling last year that such films be banned from the competition. This led Netflix head Ted Sarandos to withdraw titles – including Roma, which premiered instead at Venice before progressing to awards glory – from the festival.

Negotiations concerning the impasse are said to be ongoing, but it looks likely no Netflix films will debut on the Croisette this year, meaning the likes of The Irishman – Martin Scorsese’s reunion with Robert De Niro, Al Pacino and Joe Pesci – will premiere elsewhere.