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Netflix Movie Theatres

Netflix Movie Theatres??

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Netflix Movie Theatres. Sounds cool right? Well, that may become a reality in the near future.  According to a report from the LA Times the streaming giant were in talks to acquire billionaire Mark Cuban’s Landmark Theatre chain. However, they backed out due to the cost. Yet all is not lost it seems. As a source from Variety claim that Netflix weren’t just interested in acquiring Landmark specifically. But are considering acquiring theatrical real estate.

Netflix Movie Theatres: Why?

Sources who have spoken to the Times are reporting that the reason Netflix are interested in purchasing theatrical real estate is due to wanting to earn the respect it deserves from major theatre chains and film establishments. But why? When the streaming giant already has the most paying subscribers than any other streaming service on the planet. (125M, compared to Amazon’s 100M) Owning a theatre would make it easier for Netflix to qualify for Hollywood awards like the Oscars.

Netflix Movie Theatres: The Oscars

As having a theatrical release is one of the stipulations that you require to be eligible for the prestigious award. Yet there are problems here too, as Netflix have always stuck to a day and date structure. Meaning that the films that Netflix have produced have always been available on streaming and on theatres. This is a major reason, according to Variety as to why many major theatre’s won’t carry a movie from Netflix unless it’s an exclusive deal. Hence the reason as to why Netflix are pushing for ‘Netflix Movie Theatres’. Netflix aren’t new to the Oscar’s space, as they won their first Oscar for Icarus this year, which simultaneously debuted in theatres and on Netflix.  While they are no stranger to this scene, having their own ‘Netflix Movie Theatres’ would make life so much easier for them to put their own movies in cinemas.

Maybe there’s life in the old dog yet if the new boy still wants to hang around with the old boy!

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Digital Video outsells Physical Video!

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The inevitable happened and in 2016 streaming and downloadable video outsold DVD’s and Blu Rays for the first time in 2016.

Based on data from The Official Charts Company DVD and Blu Ray sales dropped by 17% year on year, (£1Billion – £894Million) Digital sales grew from £250M to £1.3billion according to estimates from market research firm IHS!!

Places like Netflix and Amazon churning out insanely good original content it’s no surprise that digital sales grew by so much and with them continuing to put more money into original content the sales will only continue to grow. Not only that places like Sky Store and Wuaki.tv also means you don’t even have to wait for the latest releases to hit Netflix you can rent them upon day of release!

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Amazon Opens More Book Stores!

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If opening a physical store wasn’t interesting enough, Amazon is adding to its fleet of Amazon Book stores already in use.

Amazon told the Wallstreet Journal in an email that they are opening a bookstore in Manhattan sometime this spring. Located at Time Warner Center in Midtown at the edge of Central Park.

In an ironic twist of fate Amazon may have been tempted by such a location as Manhattan rent prices are dropping due to online stores.

Amazon currently has three bookstores located at Seattle, Portland and San Diego. As well as this new one in Manhattan there are also plans for two more, Chicago and Massachusetts.

Amazon’s books are cheaper in it’s physical stores rather than online, but unsurprisingly enough you can sign up for a prime membership in store.

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The Grand Tour

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The wait is over.

The three musketeers of the motoring world are back and in a big big way! It feels like a lifetime since we have seen Clarkson, Hammond and May on our screens, since their dramatic departure from the BBC 18 Months ago (By sheer luck Clarkson hasn’t technically been fired from the BBC, which is made note of in the 10min introduction to the show) by boy was it worth it!

The show starts off with Clarkson leaving an office building in London in dark gloomy rain and handing a security guard an ID badge (metaphor for the BBC?) with radio clippings of a person leaving a show layered underneath. We are then presented with Clarkson getting a plane and traveling over to a colourful and vibrant LA and it is here where Clarkson looks happier and free from the doom and gloom, a metaphor for the shackles of the BBC? The Grand Tour is on the internet and you can get away with a lot more on the internet and his controversial phrases won’t harm his employers as evidently as he would if he was still on the BBC.  Again this is made note of within the first 10mins and he makes a joke about tents and gypsies.

Small jabs to the BBC and Top Gear are found throughout the show, such as The American, Conversation Corner and ‘Your Name Here Corner’ one can only assume that ‘Your Name Here Corner’ is a nod to ‘Gambon’ on the Top Gear’s track. But besides all of the sly digs toward their former employers the show is essentially Top Gear but with a lot more money thrown at it $13.3M approximately per episode ($160M for 12 Episodes) and it is shown throughout the show just where that money is going. Just in the first 10 minutes alone the hordes of cars driving through the desert would have cost a lot of money! 

If you liked Top Gear with the three friends mucking around, you’ll love The Grand Tour It is essentially their old show in a fancy new packaging. If you didn’t like them before you probably won’t like them now. If you’re a new customer to The Grand Tour and Clarkson, Hammond and May, they’re like marmite and the show isn’t as much a motoring show but more of an entertainment show. So don’t expect to see intricate reviews of cars, but more of three guys having fun with cars. From what I have seen we’re in for a ride over the next 12 weeks and I cannot wait.

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