Netflix revealed its strategy for Oscar contender 'Roma,' but experts disagree on whether it will charm the Academy

• Netflix said its Oscar contender, "Roma," will be released in at least 100 theaters.
• That's one of the largest theatrical releases by the streaming giant, which will also make the movie available on its site at the same time.
• Oscar pundit Tom O'Neil from Gold Derby told Business Insider the movie is an Oscar frontrunner and the 100 theater release proves Netflix means business.
• But comScore box-office analyst Paul Dergarabedian believes there will still be challenges for "Roma" getting award season consideration because Netflix isn't giving the movie an exclusive theatrical release.

On Tuesday, Netflix announced its third-quarter earnings and outside of exceeding Wall Street expectations, the streaming giant also gave a hint at how it will be releasing its big Oscar contender.

In a letter to shareholders, the company noted that it will be giving its original movie, Alfonso Cuarón's critically acclaimed "Roma," one of the biggest theatrical releases it has ever done.

"This December, we'll be launching 'Roma,' from Oscar-winning director Alfonso Cuarón," the letter says. "We support simultaneous release in cinema and on Netflix, and the film will debut on Netflix and on over 100 screens worldwide, just as we are doing currently with '22 July,' from Oscar-nominated director Paul Greengrass. We believe in our member-centric simultaneous release model for our original films and welcome additional theatre chains that are open to carrying our films to provide the shared-viewing, big-screen experience to their customers who enjoy that option."

Since "Roma" - a gripping look at the life of a middle-class family in Mexico City, shot in black-and-white - won the top prize at the Venice Film Festival and wowed audiences at numerous other top fall film festivals, the award season buzz for the movie has been high. This has led to questions within the industry of how Netflix would go about releasing what looks to be a sure-fire Oscar contender. Would it continue to do the day-and-date release, simultaneously showing the movie in theaters as it's available to stream? Or would it give the movie a traditional exclusive theatrical release before making it available on streaming?

Turns out Netflix went with day-and-date, which makes "Roma" unavailable to the main movie chains (AMC, Regal, Cinemark), which refuse to show movies that don't adhere to the 90-day exclusive theatrical window. By comparison, Cuarón's Oscar-winning "Gravity" was released in 2013 by Warner Bros. on over 3,500 screens.

This doesn't make day-and-date movies ineligible to the Oscars or other awards, but it makes it harder to pull off nominations and wins. Take, for example, the Netflix titles in the past that on paper looked like Oscar contenders: 2015's "Beasts of No Nation" and 2018's "Mudbound." "Beasts" didn't get any nominations (though Idris Elba received a Golden Globe nomination for best supporting actor) and "Mudbound" got four (including a best supporting actress nod for Mary J. Blige and the first female cinematographer nomination for Rachel Morrison), however, not for best director or best picture, which many in the industry thought it would get.

Oscar pundit Tom O'Neil from Gold Derby said that right now "Roma" is an Oscar frontrunner alongside the Bradley Cooper/Lady Gaga box-office hit, "A Star Is Born." Cuarón is also a a frontrunner in the best director category.

"Rolling out 'Roma' to 100 theaters is smart because it sends the message to Oscar voters that this is a serious film in the traditional sense, not just a hot new thing to see on America's top streaming service," O'Neil told Business Insider. "Putting 'Roma' in theaters is also crucial because Cuarón wants viewers to appreciate its advanced technology on a big screen." (The movie's lush photography was shot on 65mm film.)

But some in the industry don't see "Roma" having a smooth ride to Oscar night. Paul Dergarabedian, box-office analyst at comScore, believes that there are still those in the industry who will only consider movies for award season, especially the Oscars, if they have a traditional exclusive theatrical release. And seeing that Netflix's biggest rival, Amazon Studios, has respected the theatrical window - by doing an exclusive release before making it available to stream (and won an Oscar for "Manchester by the Sea") - doesn't help its cause.

"The way Amazon has done its releases, they totally get it," Dergarabedian told Business Insider. "It has set a precedent that everyone can point to because you are honoring theatrical and then taking the platform release to another level. That may be the thing that creates the biggest hurdles for any entity that tries to go day-and-date and yet still get Oscar consideration."

Netflix has been able to own the Emmys, having had 23 wins in just this past show, but the Oscars continues to be a harder nut to crack. Netflix's head of content Ted Sarandos said on an earnings call on Tuesday that directors like Alfonso Cuarón are coming to Netflix because at the streaming giant their work is given to the audiences "in ways they've never seen before," but if the company can't show it can also get their talent Oscars, Netflix may lose out on those prestige titles in the future.