Netflix Exec Defends Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery's Theatrical Release Strategy
Netflix has become a household name in the world of movies and television shows, delivering new blockbusters on basically a weekly basis. As the crop of movies on the streaming service have only continued to grow, they've included some pretty major surprises, including the Knives Out sequel Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery. Even before Glass Onion arrived on Netflix, the film made headlines for its unconventional release strategy, premiering it in theaters for only one week. During the company's fourth-quarter 2022 earnings interview, now-Netflix CEO Ted Sarandos defended the release strategy, and argued that it ultimately caused more demand for the film to be streaming.
"We're thrilled with every aspect of the release of Glass Onion," Sarandos explained. "We created a bunch of demand that we fulfilled on our subscription service... Everything else is really a tactic to drive excitement around those films."
What is Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery about?
In Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery, Tech billionaire Miles Bron invites his friends (and Detective Benoit Blanc) for a "murder mystery party" getaway on Glass Onion, his private Greek island. However, when someone turns up dead for real, Blanc must crack the case and discover who the killer is.
The film stars Daniel Craig as Benoit Blanc, Edward Norton as Miles Bron, Janelle Monáe as Cassandra "Andi" Brand, Kathryn Hahn as Claire Debella, Leslie Odom Jr. as Lionel Toussaint, Jessica Henwick as Peg, Madelyn Cline as Whiskey, Kate Hudson as Birdie Jay, Dave Bautista as Duke Cody, and Ethan Hawke in a currently-unknown role. Glass Onion is one of two sequels already greenlit by Netflix.
"The first one, [Johnson] had the idea for years in his head, but he only put pen to paper like late January and by end of October we were filming it, which is a super fast," producer Ram Bergman told ComicBook.com. "This movie, he really did not have an idea. He just stopped thinking and we were... From the moment he started really writing it, like, nine months later, a year later, we were filming. So, the good thing, he is very motivated to go do the next one as quickly as possible. But, you know, we'll see how fast he is but this is gonna be a challenge. It's gonna be a bigger challenge. So we'll see how long it's gonna take."
What did you think of Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery? How do you feel about its theatrical release strategy? Share your thoughts with us in the comments below!
Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery is now available to stream exclusively on Netflix.