According to Ted Sarandos, Barbie and Oppenheimer would have been just as successful on Netflix

“There is no reason to believe that the film itself is better, whatever the size of the screen,” assures the boss of the platform.

Last July, the Barbenheimer had a real tidal wave. The simultaneous theatrical release of barbie of Greta Gerwig and D'Oppenheimer of Christopher Nolan had been a real pop cultural event, which had boosted theater attendance exponentially (especially since the reductions in performance linked to general confinement). At the time, this phenomenon made people say Emily Bluntwho plays the role of the wife of the creator of the atomic bomb:

“We have to make this happen again. We have to do it because look what good it did to cinema. Look what it did to people. It was a joyful celebration because of this diversity of films.”

However, for Ted Sarandos, the current boss of the streaming giant Netflix, this success was not intrinsically linked to the cinema, and Barbenheimer could have created similar enthusiasm on his platform. In the columns of an interview entitled “The plan from the head of Netflix to make you consume even more” of New York Timesthe businessman vehemently asserts:

“Both of these films would be perfect for Netflix. They certainly would have benefited from such a large audience on Netflix. So I don't think there's any reason to believe that certain types of films work or don't work. There's no reason to believe that the movie itself is better, regardless of screen size, for everyone. My son is an editor. He is twenty-eight years old and he looked Lawrence of Arabia on his phone.”

He continues, summarizing the philosophy of his platform: “It’s interesting, with every new technological development, there’s something to gain for the public.”

However, it seems that the success of the Barbenheimer lies fundamentally in the theatrical release of the two films, which took place at the same time, and whose coincidence often led the curious to see them on the same day. The proof, in the figures: in total, barbie grossed $1.4 billion worldwide; Oppenheimer953.8 million.

Furthermore, this speech goes against the very principles of Christopher Nolan, who, at the time of the blu-ray release ofOppenheimerclaimed to want to do “a version you can own and put on a shelf so no evil streaming service can come and steal it”.

The fact remains thatOppenheimer And barbie are currently enjoying a second life, respectively on Canal+ and on Prime Video, even if it is less publicized than their theatrical release.

For Chris Nolan, Oppenheimer's success opens up a “post-franchise world”