It looks like Netflix' first attempt at theatrical grade motion pictures is a success. Beasts of No Nation, the Idris Elba fronted African war drama from director Cary Fukunaga, has already been viewed by 3 million viewers in ten days, according to Netflix's head of content Ted Sarandos; who spoke with Deadline about the film.
'It is worth sharing that this movie, in North America alone, has over 3 million views already. Which I think is a bigger audience than any specialty film could ever hope for in its first two weeks of release, and maybe for its entire run.' Said Sarandos.
The film's unusual distribution method has been a subject of controversy. Back in March when news of the acquisition was first reported, many of America's top movie theatre chains like AMC, Regal, Cinemark and Carmike promised to boycott the film because of Netflix' decision to make the movie available for streaming at the same time as the theatrical run; violating the so called '90 day' rule that stipulates a film must wait 3 months before releasing on home video.
The online video giant reportedly paid $12 million to acquire the rights to the film and wants to put it up for serious Awards consideration. It managed to secure a small, limited release in select theatres in both the US and UK.
Sarandos told Deadline that they are working on getting theatrical releases in other locales.
'We're also gearing up to release the film theatrically in Africa, in Ghana and Nigeria. Netflix is not there, and obviously the film is of local importance, so we're doing that as well.' Said Sarandos. 'We only released the film theatrically in the UK and the U.S., and it played festivals in Toronto, Venice and just this weekend it played to an unbelievable audience at the Japan Film Festival.'
