Earlier this year, Netflix CEO Ted Sarandos somewhat infamously—and not all that surprisingly, considering the streamer’s entire model—referred to the concept of movie theaters as “outdated.” It’s a perspective that (just as unsurprisingly) has rubbed some creatives the wrong way. Last year, Puck News reported that Craig and Sarandos had a testy exchange after Glass Onion‘s TIFF premiere that ended in Craig firing off “a variation on ‘Your model is fucked.'” More recently, Johnson told Business Insider that he wants Wake Up Dead Man in “as many theaters for as long as possible… We’re going to push for everything we can get in terms of theatrical, because I want as many people as possible to see it in that form.”
While a 14-day release is still paltry compared to what non-Netflix films usually get, it’s a victory considering the streamer’s history. Netflix has occasionally given brief windows to select films. KPop Demon Hunters got a weekend-long sing-along release last month after it had already done numbers on the streamer, for example. Next year, Greta Gerwig’s Narnia will also open for two weeks in IMAX theaters. Fans shouldn’t expect Netflix to relent on the model Craig was so frustrated by any time soon, though. There is “no change at all to our theatrical strategy,” Sarandos told Deadline after the Narnia release was announced. “Our core strategy is to give our members exclusive first round movies on Netflix.”
At least fans will get to take their families to see Wake Up Dead Man in theaters starting November 26, before the film hits the streamer December 12. (It will have its world premiere at TIFF this month.) You can read Wake Up Dead Man‘s official synopsis below:
Benoit Blanc (Daniel Craig) returns for his most dangerous case yet in the third and darkest chapter of Rian Johnson’s murder mystery opus. When young priest Jud Duplenticy (Josh O’Connor) is sent to assist charismatic firebrand Monsignor Jefferson Wicks (Josh Brolin), it’s clear that all is not well in the pews. Wicks’s modest-but-devoted flock includes devout church lady Martha Delacroix (Glenn Close), circumspect groundskeeper Samson Holt (Thomas Haden Church), tightly-wound lawyer Vera Draven, Esq. (Kerry Washington), aspiring politician Cy Draven (Daryl McCormack), town doctor Nat Sharp (Jeremy Renner), best-selling author Lee Ross (Andrew Scott), and concert cellist Simone Vivane (Cailee Spaeny). After a sudden and seemingly impossible murder rocks the town, the lack of an obvious suspect prompts local police chief Geraldine Scott (Mila Kunis) to join forces with renowned detective Benoit Blanc to unravel a mystery that defies all logic. Academy Award-nominated filmmaker Rian Johnson writes and directs Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery, and assembles another all-star, award-winning cast.
