Netflix is a force to be reckoned with, although I worry about the standard of quality after seeing Legendary’s god awful Spectral dumped on the streaming service last week.
The video store was my second home growing up, and we learned to decipher the good and bad films based on distributors. It became a game of cat and mouse to figure out what direct-to-VHS/DVD films were good and not just some half-baked bullshit made for a quick buck. We got really, really good at it.
Now, most of the stuff you see on streaming services, including Redbox, is trash. It’s where bad movies go to die, or go to steal people’s hard-earned money if you’re looking at some of the crap that finds its way into consumers hands through these mediums.
Netflix needs to be above this. They don’t need to pick up movies just because they were once targeted Hollywood blockbusters. Supporting Osgood Perkins’ I Am the Pretty Thing That Lives in the House was a step in the right direction; distributing Legendary’s miserable mess, Spectral, was not.
It’s awesome that there’s this new platform to get films released, but let’s hope Netflix has higher standards and isn’t just grabbing everything put in front of them because they’re in dire need of content.
The latest surprise acquisition is that of McG’s The Babysitter, which New Line Cinema was to release (they claim they have a crowded slate). According to Variety, Netflix paid close to $10 million to own this film, which is just f’n ridiculous.
The movie stars Bella Thorne, Robbie Amell, Samara Weaving, Andrew Bachelor, Hana Mae Lee, and Judah Lewis. It follows a lonely, 12-year-old boy who falls in love with his hot babysitter only to discover that she’s part of a satanic cult that wants to kill him.
I want to believe this movie is going to be good, but it’s hard for me to believe that New Line didn’t just pass it off when they lost confidence in it. $10 million is an insane price that could cover the film’s production, and it keeps New Line from having to cover the marketing costs that would exceed that and force them to have to make $50 million at the box office in order to see a return.
Netflix is turning into an awesome option for studios, but to reiterate, I hope it’s not at the expense of the viewers….
