Last night while attending a screening, I talked with a friend about our hopes to see Zack Snyder’s Army of the Dead on the big screen. The problem, one that Netflix has dealt with for years, is that the largest theatre chains wouldn’t work with them because of the 60-day exclusivity they would require. Well, as we’ve seen over this last year of pandemic, that release window has shrunk down to nothing, and now one major chain is more than happy to work with the streamer on Snyder’s upcoming zombie film.
Variety reports Army of the Dead will open a week early on May 14th, exclusively in 600 theaters, with Cinemark accounting for 200 of those. The film will hit Netflix a week later as planned. This is a big deal, as Netflix finally cracks one of the major theater chains. If there’s an untapped revenue source for them it’s box office, and this could go a long way to changing that.
This follows on the heels of other studios striking exclusivity deals with theater chains, as the market looks to regain its footing. Times are changing, and we will be seeing more Netflix movies on the screen in the very near future.
Spencer Klein, Netflix’s head of distribution, said , “Following the success of our limited-run in-theatre tests with Cinemark for films like ‘Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom,’ ‘The Midnight Sky’ and ‘The Christmas Chronicles 2,’ we are looking forward to the wider theatrical release of ‘Army of the Dead.’”
For us in the DMV, the nearest Cinemark theater is in Fairfax, VA. You can bet I’ll be there!
