Netflix in Crisis?! 'Stranger Things' SAVES the Streamer! What Happens Next?!

Netflix's foray into the theatrical world is getting a serious reality check, especially as rumors swirl about a potential acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery. Talk about a high-stakes gamble! This all comes on the heels of a week with some pretty contrasting cinema results: the lukewarm reception of Rian Johnson's *Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery* versus the buzz building for the *Stranger Things* series finale, set to drop on New Year's Eve. You can almost hear the gears turning at Netflix HQ.

Netflix in Crisis?! 'Stranger Things' SAVES the St...

The reported potential deal with WBD, complete with a promise to really embrace theatrical releases, adds even more pressure. *Wake Up Dead Man*'s performance is definitely under the microscope now. It’s hard to ignore the numbers: just over $4 million grossed over the five-day Thanksgiving holiday. Not exactly a blockbuster start.

To put things in perspective, that $4 million translates to a roughly $6,600 per-theater average. Compare that to *Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery* from 2022, which raked in $13.3 million during the same Thanksgiving period, playing in fewer theaters (696) and boasting a $19,000 per-screen average. And let's not forget Lionsgate's original *Knives Out* in 2019, which snagged a whopping $41.4 million over the holiday, eventually reaching $165.3 million domestically and $312.8 million worldwide. Ouch.

Netflix insiders are sticking to the script, claiming *Wake Up Dead Man* received the same 17-day theatrical window as other awards contenders like Guillermo del Toro’s *Frankenstein* (which I'm personally excited to see), Noah Baumbach’s *Jay Kelly*, and Kathryn Bigelow’s *House of Dynamite*. The decision not to give *Wake Up Dead Man* a longer window before its streaming debut supposedly came down to the initial plan for a Thanksgiving theatrical launch, which is traditionally a good time for this franchise.

Interestingly, major theater chains initially only committed to a one-week run for *Glass Onion*, with the possibility of extending. A similar deal is in place for *Wake Up Dead Man*, meaning theaters can keep showing it even after it hits Netflix on December 12th. Word on the street is that the theater count for *Wake Up Dead Man* might actually increase by about 40 this weekend. That's something to keep an eye on.

Back in March 2021, MRC and Trigger Street sold *Knives Out 2* and *3* to Netflix for a cool $400 million during the pandemic. Sources say that the original idea, back when Scott Stuber was still calling the shots, was for *Glass Onion* to be Netflix's grand entrance into full-scale theatrical releases (think over 2,000 theaters). It was meant to usher in a new era. So far, that hasn't quite happened, and Netflix is still hesitant to fully commit to a truly wide 30-day exclusive theatrical release. It remains to be seen if the WBD deal will change that tune.