Steven Spielberg has signed a multi-year deal to produce movies for Netflix.
The filmmaker’s production company Amblin Partners will be partnering up with the streaming giant that, according to Deadline, “will cover multiple new feature films per year.”
In a statement, Spielberg said “at Amblin, storytelling will forever be at the centre of everything we do, and from the minute Ted [Sarandos, Netflix Chief Content Officer] and I started discussing a partnership, it was abundantly clear that we had an amazing opportunity to tell new stories together and reach audiences in new ways.
“This new avenue for our films, alongside the stories we continue to tell with our longtime family at Universal and our other partners, will be incredibly fulfilling for me personally since we get to embark on it together with Ted, and I can’t wait to get started.”
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The exact details of the agreement are unspecified, so whether Spielberg himself will be directing any of the new projects remains to be seen. At the very least, you would expect a hands on role from a man with dozens of producer credits to his name.
As mentioned in the statement, Amblin already have a production deal in place with rival studio Universal, and Spielberg makes clear the partnership with Netflix won’t interfere with that prior arrangement. Such extensive links are a testament to his continued clout as a filmmaker. Five decades on from his first release, he remains one of the biggest names in cinema. Jaws, Raiders of the Lost Ark, and Jurassic Park are just a handful of the popular classics on his résumé.
It’s also worth highlighting what a coup this is for Netflix. The company have previously courted Hollywood’s elite; Martin Scorsese’s mob epic The Irishman is one of the platform’s most expensive and successful releases to date. Nevertheless, a deal with Spielberg represents a level-up for their cinematic aspirations. Filmgoers will be sure to keep a keen eye on what their intriguing partnership has in store.
Words by Alex Crisp.
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