Netflix Is Spending A Ton Of Money on Original Movies

What’s on Netflix? It’s a simple question that reflects how integral to mainstream pop culture the streaming giant has become, the revolution of the film and television landscape in the age of the internet, and one company’s story from scrappy underdog to industry powerhouse. For 2017, the answer to that seemingly innocuous question is shockingly expensive original movies.

It’s no secret that Netflix has been restructuring its budget to focus more on original content and international acquisitions. In September of 2016, Variety reported that Netflix planned to increase its ratio of original programming to 50 percent with the other 50 percent of its content representing licensed TV shows and movies. That goal has been translated into actual dollars and cents. At the Summer TCA tour in 2016, Ted Sarandos, Netflix’s Chief Content Officer, announced that the company planned to further increase its budget for original programming and licensed content. The previously stated budget for 2017 was a staggering $6 billion. At the time, the only other company spending more on original content than Netflix was ESPN, which spent $7.6 billion in 2016.

Throughout its history, Netflix has found a correlation between money invested in original programming and audience growth. It’s a business model that, as Netflix’s quarter-by-quarter revenue trends have shown, has proven successful for the company. It’s also a business model Netflix has proven it plans to continue in 2017, but with a slightly different focus. This year Netflix is producing more original movies and hourlong specials than ever before, and they’re spending an impressive amount of money on these acquisitions. Last year, the streaming giant said it was investing 5 percent of its content budget into original films. Now we’re starting to see how impressive 5 percent can be.

By my count, Netflix has either released or announced 35 theatrical movies for this year. Eighteen of these movies have either already been released or are scheduled to be released by the end of April. Many of these acquisitions were not announced until the month before their premiere, which indicates Netflix likely has many more acquired dramas and comedies hiding up its sleeve. Also, this number doesn’t include the four announced 2017 documentaries from the streaming service (Casting JonBenet, The Mars Generation, Get Me Roger Stone, and Laerte-se) or the 24 stand up specials Netflix has either released or announced, which includes big names such as Louis C.K., Amy Schumer, Dave Chapelle, Sarah Silverman, and Jerry Seinfeld. However, it’s not only the quantity of new films that’s impressive but the price tag for those movies.

Conservatively, Netflix has paid $240 million for four movies that will be released this year. War Machine, which will be the first original big-budget film to hit the service, stars Brad Pitt, Anthony Michael Hall, Topher Grace, and Tilda Swinton, and it cost $60 million. The Bong Joon-ho directed Okja, which stars Ahn Seo-hyun, Jake Gyllenhaal, Paul Dano, and Swinton (again), has a budget of $50 million. The live-action adaptation of the anime Death Note, starring Willem Dafoe and directed by Adam Wingard, has been projected to have a budget of anywhere from $40 to 50 million. Finally, there’s the big guy in the room, the Will Smith-led Bright, which cost $90 million.

That’s not even counting the other big title in Netflix’s arsenal, Our Souls at Night, which stars Robert Redford, Jane Fonda, and Judy Greer and has yet to release a budget by the time of publication. Nor is this including The Irishman, the latest Martin Scorsese film Netflix bid on but may lose due to distribution disputes. That one comes with a price tag of anywhere from $105 million (Netflix’s full-buyout offer) to over $125 million (the current projected budget).

Those are all titles with huge star power and eye-widening price tags for your friendly living room streaming service. I wasn’t able to find production costs for all of Netflix’s other 2017 movies, but the budgets I was able to find weren’t cheap. Some, like iBoy, The Discovery, and Tramps, were estimated to have cost anywhere from $1.5 million to $2.5 million a piece. The Frank Grillo-led and Jeremy Rush-directed Wheelman cost $10 million, and the Nicholas Holt war movie Sand Castle reportedly cost $13 million. Add in David Wain’s A Futile and Stupid Gesture and its estimated $30 million price tag, and Netflix has conservatively spent a reported $300 million on original movies. That number is only going to go up.

That’s a big jump from Netflix’s first theatrical investment, Beasts of No Nation, which the streaming service acquired for $12 million. Hourlong specials and documentaries have always been part of Netflix’s original programming formula since the service started producing original content in 2012. However, theatrical movies are a relatively recent addition. The first film Netflix released that wasn’t a stand up special, comedy special, documentary, or tie-in movie for one of the company’s other existing properties was the aforementioned Beasts of No Nation, which premiered October 16, 2015 to critical acclaim. It was shortly followed by the first movie in Netflix’s Adam Sandler deal, The Ridiculous 6.

Since then, the streaming service has focused on expanding its movie collection, acquiring and distributing 18 theatrical movies in 2016 as well as a Sense8 special and a Justin Timberlake concert. Most of these, with the exception of Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon: Sword of Destiny, Pee-wee’s Big Holiday, Mascots, and movies part of Netflix’s Sandler and Kevin James’ deals (The Do-Over and True Memoirs of an International Assassin respectively), have been indie films that likely would not have reached a wide audience without Netflix. That was 2016. 2017 is all about awards consideration films, big blockbusters, and a solid padding of indie gems.

Netflix’s real competition in this field is going to be Amazon, which spent $3.2 billion on original content for 2016. Whereas Netflix seems to be rounding out its 2017 film strategy to cater to many segments of its vast international audience, Amazon is likely taking a more selective approach, only focusing on films that have the chance to receive awards consideration and giving them a traditional theatrical release. In Sean Fennessey’s insightful piece for The Ringer, he explores how streaming has destroyed the traditional independent film industry. Whereas Netflix completely rejects the theatrical movie window and puts content directly on its platform, Amazon has established itself as another studio. “Amazon applies lessons learned from working within the Hollywood studio experience; Netflix defies them at will,” Fennessey writes. “Their strategies are different, but the endgame feels largely the same — attack the most vulnerable market in movies: the little guys.”

It’s also a strategy that seems to be paying off for Amazon. After all, the critically-praised Manchester by the Sea won Amazon Studios two Oscars and a Golden Globe. That’s incredibly impressive for a player that’s only been investing in original movies for a little over two years. Also, several of Amazon’s upcoming projects look promising from both a commercial and awards perspective, from Charlie Hunnam‘s The Lost City of Z, which has been getting good early buzz, and the John Cena-led The Wall to Michael Showalter and Kumail Nanjiani’s Sundance darling, The Big Sick. Amazon seems to be picking its projects carefully. Since both streaming services keep their numbers to themselves, it won’t be until next year’s Oscars that we’ll be able to see which strategy is more effective.

Netflix’s aggressive 2017 film slate certainly isn’t a bad thing for users. More content is always exciting, and the creative risks Netflix takes allows more obscure movies like the delightfully twisted I Don’t Feel at Home in This World Anymore and Joe Swanberg’s Win It All to reach mainstream audiences. However, though it’s a decision made by a company that notoriously loves data, investing so much money into movies feels like a gamble. The Get Down may have cost anywhere from $120 million to $200 million, but with that investment comes 12 hours of content. With this its new strategy that heavily focuses on both series and movies, Netflix is investing far more money into fewer, big-name hours of content.

Regardless of whether this strategy boosts the company to new highs or flops, the answer to the question “What’s on Netflix?” should never be boring in 2017.