Director James Cameron weighed in on Netflix’s ambitions during an appearance on The Town With Matthew Belloni podcast, according to reporting from the New Musical Express. Belloni had asked Cameron to comment on news that Netflix was competing with Comcast and Paramount in a bid to acquire Warner Bros.
Netflix’s «sucker bait»
Reports last week indicated that Netflix had promised to keep releasing Warner Bros. films in theaters as part of its acquisition proposal. Cameron dismissed that pledge as little more than a tactic to qualify films for awards consideration.
He argued that offering a brief theatrical run — about a week or so — solely to meet Oscar rules undermined the purpose of the Academy Awards. In his view, the Oscars should honor works created for the big screen, and he suggested that the awards lose credibility if they no longer represent theatrical filmmaking.
Oscars for streaming movies
Notably, when the conversation turned to whether Netflix productions should be eligible for Oscar nominations, Cameron said he believed they should not qualify unless the company changed its distribution model. He indicated that a legitimate theatrical release would require showing films in thousands of theaters for a meaningful period, such as a month.
