Online streaming giant Netflix is planning to buy movie theatres for the official releases of their movies in a bid to secure nominations for the Academy Awards, reported Variety.
Landmark Theatres, an art-house movie screening chain of theatres in New York and Los Angeles, has been on the market for a while and has caught the attention of Byron Allen’s Entertainment Studios and Netflix.
Experts say that buying a movie theatre chain would represent Netflix’s next step to become an entertainment giant.
Last year, the Netflix movie Mudbound was nominated for four Oscars, winning none. Many believe the movie would have garnered more attention if it had been given a cinema release.
Recommended
This news comes after Netflix pulled out of the Cannes Film Festival. Recent news from CNET says that a California based company called The Los Gatos plans to spend up to $8 billion on content this year, but it’s still getting little respect from the traditional filmmaking industry.
Earlier it was reported that filmmaker Steven Spielberg is of the opinion that films by Netflix should not be considered for the Academy Awards because they are “TV movies”. “Once you commit to a television format, you’re a TV movie. If it’s a good show, you deserve an Emmy. But not an Oscar,” he had said.