Helen Mirren: 'I love Netflix… but f--k Netflix'

Helen Mirren has caused an industry stir by declaring, “I love Netflix… but f---k Netflix.” Speaking at CinemaCon last night, promoting her new film The Good Liar, the Oscar-winner’s comment was met with a round of applause.

This isn’t the first time Mirren has voiced her animosity for the streaming service. Back in April 2018, she told the i newspaper that Netflix was affecting filmmakers who, like her husband Taylor Hackford, were making movies for theatrical settings.

“It’s devastating for people like my husband, film directors, because they want their movies to be watched in a cinema with a group of people,” Mirren explained. “So it’s a communal thing.”

Mirren echoes the sentiments of director Steven Spielberg, who recently expressed a desire to change the rules regarding the Oscar eligibility of Netflix releases.

Last year, Spielberg told ITV that “once you commit to a television format, you’re a TV movie”, arguing that Netflix films “deserve an Emmy, but not an Oscar”.

Spielberg, an Academy board member, provoked a response from Netflix after he reportedly continued to question the inclusion of films that premiered on a streaming service in the prestigious awards ceremony.

Netflix argued that they provide “access for people who can’t always afford, or live in towns without, theatres”, and that streaming services are “giving filmmakers more ways to share art”.

With industry figures weighing in on both sides of the heated debate, the US Justice Department has now warned the Academy that changing their eligibility rules could raise antitrust concerns and violate competition law.

According to Variety, Makan Delrahim, the chief of the DOJ’s Antitrust Division, has expressed concern that new rules prohibiting the inclusion of films that premiered on streaming services would be written “in a way that tends to suppress competition”.

Mirren’s complaints come at an inopportune moment: it has just been revealed that the global recorded music industry has seen its fourth year of revenue growth, thanks to ad-supported and subscription streaming services.

According to a report by the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry, music sales rose to $19.1 billion last year, meaning that the industry is finally making more money than it was in 2007.

The 2019 State of the Industry report, released yesterday, found that of this $19.1 billion, nearly half came from streaming services. From 2017 to 2018, paid or subscription streaming rose by 33 per cent.

Has Netflix killed the communal experience of going to the cinema? Or can cinema-goers and Netflix-lovers coexist? We want to hear from you in the comments section below.

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