When asked during their second quarter 2020 earnings call how he felt about Netflix‘s current outlook on balancing original content versus acquisition titles, co-CEO Reed Hastings had a grand answer. The streaming service apparently is happy with their current ratio of originals versus acquired titles and uses their sheet amount of hits to keep viewers eyes glued to their platform, and seemingly make viewers consider them their “best friend.” That’s their whole strategy, even when you may stray to watch Hamilton on Disney+, you know that you can go back to Netflix for more hits than you’ll find there.
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“We want to have so many hits that when you come to Netflix, you can just go from hit to hit to hit and never have to think about any of those other services, right?” Hastings said. “We want to be like your primary, your best friend, the one you turn to. And of course, occasionally, there’s Hamilton and you’re going to go to someone else’s service for an extraordinary film. But for the most part, we want to be the one that just always please you with the convenience, simple and easy choice.”
Hastings also teased new projects in the works for Netflix, and though he didn’t outright say what these plans entail he seemed to think that they’ll maintain the streaming service’s position as your best friend.
“I feel excellent about the number of big bets that Ted has coming up,” Hastings added. “I’m privy to stuff that we’re doing now that will come out in 2 or 3 years. And it’s a little — amazing, I mean. And some of it will turn out truly great and I’ll be so proud of it. So I’m excited that we’re taking those risks.”
Some of those big bets that Netflix is planning are no doubt their major acquisitions from the comic book world. Back in 2017 they acquired Mark Millar’s Millarworld publishing line, giving them the rights to make many of his titles into films and television shows in addition to developing brand new projects with the comic scribe. A number of titles from the writer’s library are already in the works as films, live-action television, and animated series.
Recent feature film hits like The Old Guard and Extraction also seem to be the kind of films they intend to exploit as their “hits.” Both films originate from popular talent, The Old Guard stars Academy Award winner Charlize Theron while Extraction hails from Avengers: Endgame co-director Joe Russo and star Chris Hemsworth; and both are are on track to be among their most popular original titles. The formula for Netflix to win your friendship is clear, spend money on the things audiences would want to see in a theater and then give it to them at home.
(Cover photo by Mateusz Slodkowski/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)
