Netflix just made the most bonkers deal to finance a film — and it won’t even *be* a Netflix original movie
A new collaboration between Netflix and New Line Cinema may be a game-changing move for the future of film distribution through Netflix. According to Deadline, the streaming platform and the Warner Bros. production company are nearing a deal to co-finance and distribute the upcoming untitled Shaft reboot.
But Netflix’s involvement doesn’t mean we’ll get to stream immediately, like most other Netflix-backed films. Instead, with the deal, the streaming company would foot the bill of more than half of the $30 million budget and in return, get international streaming rights, which would see the film stream globally on Netflix two weeks after its release in U.S. theaters.
The Shaft reboot, which was written by Black-ish creator Kenya Barris and will by directed by Tim Story, will have Samuel L. Jackson reprise his role as detective John Shaft — the nephew of Richard Roundtree’s private detective John Shaft in the 1971 film of the same name — alongside Jessie T. Usher (Independence Day: Resurgence), who is set to play Jackson’s estranged cyber expert FBI agent son. Roundtree is also expected to reprise his role in the film.
The Shaft reboot deal would be a new approach for Netflix, which has historically required the films it acquires for distribution to be released on the streaming platform the same day it hits theaters, as with Beasts of No Nation. The deal could not only change the way Netflix invests in films, but the overseas availability could also change the way other distribution companies release films abroad.
While international Netflix fans will be thrilled to see the reboot while the film is still in theaters domestically, all is not lost for U.S. fans. According to Deadline, the U.S. roll-out model would be follow Warner Bros.’s standard practice from theatrical release to SVOD and DVD.
The untitled Shaft reboot, which is rumored to be titled Son of Shaft, is set to go into production in December.
