We bring you a bit of everything on this Friday’s Netflix platter. Whether you want to know all about the new Swedish slasher streaming just in time for Friday the 13th, the retail stores Netflix is planning on inaugurating in 2025, the release date of the Squid Game reality game show, or Ted Sarandos’ thoughts on theatrical releases, we’ve got you covered.
Netflix celebrates Friday the 13th with Swedish slasher The Conference
A Friday the 13th in October?! You should probably check on your superstitious and/or horror fan friends right now, because they must be having one hell of a day. Maybe, they’re spending it watching The Conference, a satirical Swedish slasher that Netflix reserved just for the occasion. The Nordics have quite a reputation for making great horror movies with a good dose of bite, so you might want to catch this one before it’s melted.
From director Patrik Eklund, The Conference follows a group of civil servants who are hunted by a creepy mask-wearing murderer during a team-building business retreat. It’s now streaming on Netflix. Happy spooky watching!
Netflix announces the release date for Squid Game: The Challenge instead of telling us what we really want to know
Squid Game: The Challenge, the reality competition that will see contestants recreate the games from the hit South Korean show it is named after, is arriving on Netflix Nov. 22, the streamer announced Friday. While we can bet curiosity will have subscribers flocking to watch the questionable series when it drops regardless of the controversy it’s generated, we’re certain almost everyone would rather hear about the second season of OG Squid Game, instead.
Forget Hot Topic, Netflix is coming to retail
Stranger Things, Squid Game, and Money Heist merch might have dominated every retail giant all over the world over the last few years, but Netflix is done sharing the cake. The leading streaming company in the world is moving into the retail business with thematic stores called “Netflix House.” They won’t just be selling objects, but food and live experiences based on their favorite television shows, too, much like the pop-up stores the streamer has been promoting in recent years.
Per IGN, Netflix will start off with two stores in the US in 2025, and then branch out internationally. The focal show, whether that be scripted, reality, or something else, will change sporadically with each new release. The activities and gastronomical experiences provided will switch accordingly.
Unlike the rest of the world, Ted Sarandos is not backtracking on straight-to-streaming policy
David Zaslav, Bob Iger, and most other entertainment business moguls have gone cold on the straight-to-streaming model that threatened to eradicate movie theaters during the pandemic. Most industry leaders have realized skipping theatrical releases does more damage than good, instead preferring to stick to the traditional rollout which allows them to cash in on extra box office revenue. Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos, on the other hand, is not interested in backtracking on the formula that his company basically established.
Speaking at the Bloomberg Screentime conference on Thursday, Sarandos reiterated his intention to stick to the Netflix tradition of bypassing movie theaters for the platform’s originals. “The theory [is that] you have to put movies into the theaters for some stretch of time before you give it to your subscribers who paid to make the movie right with their subscription fee. I don’t think the real payoff is in the favor of the consumer,” Sarandos explained, according to The Wrap. The executive also argued that Netflix, with its 283.39 million global subscribers, has created its own kind of audience demand that responds best when titles are readily available.
Published: Oct 14, 2023 01:13 am