Martin Scorsese's 'The Irishman' will get Netflix's biggest theatrical release yet, but it's still shut out of AMC and the other major chains
- Netflix announced on Tuesday that Martin Scorsese's "The Irishman" will debut in select theaters in New York and Los Angeles on November 1.
- It will expand to more theaters across the US and in international cities in the following weeks before becoming available to stream on Netflix on November 27.
- But it won't be playing at theaters owned by major theater chains like AMC and Cineplex, according to Deadline.
- The New York Times reported last week that discussions between Netflix and major chains had been "dragging on for months."
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Netflix is giving Martin Scorsese's Oscar hopeful, "The Irishman," the biggest theatrical release yet for one of its original movies, but audiences won't be able to see it at major theater chains.
The streaming giant announced on Tuesday that "The Irishman" will make its theatrical debut on November 1 in select theaters in New York and Los Angeles. The movie will roll out to more screens across the US and UK on November 8, and then additional US and international cities on November 15 and 22. It will become available to stream globally on Netflix on November 27.
That's the largest theatrical window Netflix has given a movie. However, it won't be playing at theaters owned by major theaters chains like AMC (the biggest theater chain in the world), Regal, Cinemark, or Canadian chain Cineplex, according to Deadline.
Netflix declined to comment on the record.
The New York Times reported last week that discussions between Netflix and major chains had been "dragging on for months."
Netflix gave last year's Oscar contender "Roma" a three-week theatrical window before it debuted on the service. The Times reported last year that Netflix was spending up to $20 million on its Oscars campaign for the movie. But after "Roma" lost best picture in February, Vulture reported the number to be as much as $60 million.
Either way, that's an astronomical amount of money to spend on an Oscars campaign. With "The Irishman" playing exclusively in theaters for four weeks, Netflix might be preparing to push it even harder during the upcoming awards season than it did "Roma," which ultimately won Oscars for foreign-language film, director, and cinematography.
"The Irishman" will make its world premiere opening night of the New York Film Festival on September 27. Below is Netflix's official synopsis of the movie: