Why Streamers Prefer a Hit TV Series to a Hit Movie

“It’s the amount of time that eyeballs are on a movie vs. a television series,” entertainment attorney Vanessa Roman says

David Offenberg, an associate professor of finance at Loyola Marymount University with an expertise in entertainment, said that a series allows a producer to amortize the cost of sets, costumes and props over multiple hours of screen time. The same goes for hiring the bankers, lawyers and deal-makers. Spreading out the costs over a number of episodes rather than just building it into one film makes sense.

“Streamers hate movies,” he said. “The reason that series have so much value to a streamer is that they make it easier to do all three things they need to do to be successful: They need to make the shows; they need to have consumers find the shows; and they need to make the consumers watch the shows. In other words, production, marketing and distribution.”

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While other streaming industry watchers might call “hate” too strong a word for how streamers may feel about movies, most agree that certain economic advantages may make a hit series a better long-game bet for a streaming service than trying to make a splash by producing a big-budget movie.

They say the comparative value of an investment in popular original series — such as Netflix’s  “The Tiger King,” “The Queen’s Gambit” or “Bridgerton,” or Amazon’s Emmy-winning “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel” — versus producing or acquiring a new movie may be more likely to cultivate loyal subscribers than a film that is watched just once.

The biggest movie news of 2020 came in December, when Warner Bros. said it would release its entire 2021 motion picture slate on WarnerMedia-owned HBO Max on the same day they hit theaters. Leveraging new subscribers with concurrent streaming/theatrical release of “Wonder Woman 1984”  or the upcoming “Dune” on  HBO Max,  or Pixar’s streaming-only premiere of “Soul” on Disney+ , creates a different financial model than a movie created by a streaming service for exhibition on their platform.

Still, Roman said, even in the case of a planned theatrical release pivoting to streaming during a pandemic, the long-term value of a feature film may be dwarfed by the loyalty a series can build in a subscriber.

“We all watched ‘Bridgerton,’ and we’re all waiting for Season 2,” she said. And binging a 10-episode season over multiple hours offers “an incentive to stay on a streaming platform and your subscription in a way that even something like ‘Dune’ isn’t going to be able to do,” she added.

Offenberg pointed to numbers from Antenna Data that show the comparative spikes in subscriptions driven by Disney+’s “Hamilton,” and “Soul,” as well as “WW84” on HBO Max. (See chart in Antenna’s tweet below).  “There can be some incredible value in having really big-name movies on your platform,” Offenberg said. “At the same time, you can only watch ‘Wonder Woman’ for two hours.”

Streaming debut chart from Antenna tweet

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John Mass, an executive vice president with Content Partners, an investment fund and asset management company that acquires intellectual property in media and entertainment, took a more balanced view of the comparative value of movies and series to a streamer, saying each must be looked at on a case-by-case basis.

Mass cited Netflix’ 2020 movie “Extraction,” an action thriller starring Chris Hemsworth and set in Bangladesh. Although the streamer rarely makes its ratings public, Netflix announced that a projected 90 million households tuned in to watch the $65 million-budgeted film in its first four weeks on the platform, making “Extraction”  Netflix’ biggest performing movie to date.

“Imagine if that were a (theatrical release) and you had 90 million admissions — that’s a billion-dollar box office movie,” he said. “With the exception of Hemsworth, they put in a big star, they didn’t have to spend a lot of money.”

He added that the cachet of making movies attracts big talent to a streaming service. “Look at Kevin Hart: He made a deal with Netflix, and it’s not about comedy specials. He’s making feature films,” Mass said. “They still want to be in the feature film business.”

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“The Queen’s Gambit” (Netflix)

Mass acknowledged that the astonishing viewership for “Extraction” represents a rare case.  In general,  he said,  when considering the number of dollars spent to create an hour of content, the series is often a better deal for the producer. But not all TV watchers are hooked by a series, he added.

“Some people just do not want to watch (multiple episodes),” he said. “Maybe they just want a quick fix.”

Meanwhile, some television critics say the business value of multiple episodes to a streamer can sometimes lead to bad creative choices, including what one called “vamping” to stretch out a story into a standard number of episodes.

Emily VanDerWerff, critic-at-large for Vox.com, applauded Craig Mazin, director of HBO’s Emmy-winning 2019 limited series “Chernobyl,” for deciding to limit his series to five episodes. “I hate to be prescriptive about this, but I believe stories have a natural length,” VanDerWerff told TheWrap. “I just watched the FX miniseries “A Teacher.” It was 10 half-hour episodes, and it was just right for that,” she said. “But as much as I loved (Netflix’ seven-episode) ‘The Queen’s Gambit, ‘I can’t say it wouldn’t be better an hour shorter. There’s a lot of space there.”

Added VanDerWerff, “I think that most stories, especially if you are adapting a novel, fall into the range where three to four hours is best.  That’s a very short miniseries or a very long movie — not a great economic proposition, especially for these streamers.”

Every Movie Coming To Netflix, Amazon Prime, HBO Max, Disney+ And Peacock This Weekend

Outside the Wire

Each weekend promises a bevy of new movies to stream—and the next three days will be no different. There will be 22 new films to choose from on the major streaming devices between now and Sunday.

Netflix will be introducing ten new films to its digital lineup, while four other streaming outlets—Amazon Prime, HBO Max, Disney+ and Peacock—will be adding another 12 to the plate.

Here’s every one of those movies, and when and where they’ll be available for watching. I’ll first highlight the biggest movie coming to each platform. Then at the end of the article, you can find a full list of every new movie.

Netflix has had great success with its action movies so far. Extraction, The Old Guard and Project Power all ranked among the streaming outlet’s top movies in 2020—and now the new year is continuing that trend with Outside the Wire. This Anthony Mackie film takes place in the near future when a war zone pilot must pair up with a top-secret android officer to stop a nuclear attack.

Amazon Prime has made a serious effort to give Black filmmakers more of a voice on its platform. Recently the streaming service premiered Sylvie’s Love, and is now featuring a new film from Regina King called One Night in Miami. The movie centers on a discussion between Malcolm X, Jim Brown, Cassius Clay and Sam Cooke during the civil rights movement.

Quentin Tarantino has, of course, made several classic films over his short career. And now the filmmaker’s legendary duology—Kill Bill Vol. 1 and Kill Bill Vol. 2—have made their way to HBO Max. The series focuses on a character referred to as “The Bride” (played by Uma Thurman) who is hellbent on exacting revenge on the man who shot her and left her for dead.

Wes Anderson has enjoyed an illustrious career over the past nearly 30 years, with movies like Rushmore, The Royal Tenenbaums and The Grand Budapest Hotel. And in 2018, the director added to his animation catalog with Isle of Dogs. The movie follows a boy who’s on the search for his lost dog in a dystopian future.

Joe Wright has become well-respected for his period dramas, such as Atonement, Anna Karenina and Pride & Prejudice. But back in 2011, he actually crafted an incredibly adept action film with Hanna. The movie follows a girl named Hanna, who has been trained to be an elite assassin. After years of training, her father sends her off on a mission.

BEST ACTRESS IN A LIMITED SERIES OR TV MOVIE

Variety's Awards Circuit is home to the official predictions for upcoming awards. Variety's Awards Circuit Prediction schedule consists of four phases, running all year long: Draft, Pre-Season, Regular Season and Post Season. Eligibility calendar and dates of awards will determine how long each phase lasts and will be displayed next to revision date.

To see all the latest predictions, of all the categories, in one place, visit THE COLLECTIVE

DRAFT>>>PRE SEASON>>>REGULAR SEASON>>>POST SEASON

UPDATED: Jan. 14, 2021

AWARDS COMMENTARY:Superstars Nicole Kidman and Cate Blanchett will face off with up-and-comers like Anya Taylor-Joy, Shira Haas and Michaela Coel in an extremely competitive category for best actress in a limited series or TV movie. Kidman is an HFPA favorite, having won four Globes as a performer — including this category for “Big Little Lies.” But last year, HFPA made sure to balance the nomination roster with newer performers like Kaitlyn Dever and Joey King, alongside household names such as Helen Mirren and Michelle Williams (who eventually won, for “Fosse/Verdon”).

Anya Taylor-Joy, “The Queen’s Gambit” Phil Bray/Netflix

Kerry Washington, “Little Fires Everywhere” Courtesy of Hulu

Kate Mara and Nick Robinson, “A Teacher” FX on Hulu

The Golden Globes Awards, hosted by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, is held annually with 93 members since 1944. The group recognizes excellence in film and television, across drama and comedy or musical categories. “Mad Men” and “The X-Files” hold the record for most wins as best drama, at three each, while “All in the Family” has won the most awards for best comedy/musical, with four wins. Carol Burnett has the record for most TV nominations, at 13 (she won five), while Alan Alda has the most TV wins, with 6 (out of 12 nominations).