The streaming giant has snapped up a much-loved single-screen cinema in New York, a game-changing move for the Oscar-hungry company
It’s more than a little ironic. The company that made watching movies at home so easy you didn’t even have to get up and go to a video store is opening a cinema.
Well, “opening” maybe isn’t the correct term, so much as “preventing a closure”.Netflix has fixed a new lease for the Paris Theater in New York, causing a moment of existential crisis for cinephiles. On the one hand, the streamer can easily be positioned as a wrecking ball bashing its way through film culture. On the other hand, who else has the pockets to keep the lights on at this place?
The Paris, a jewel case cinema in a rather photogenic part of midtown Manhattan, shut its doors in August after 70 years in business. If you have never been to New York and only know it from the movies, the theater is catty-corner to the Plaza hotel and across from the south-eastern entrance to Central Park. Around the corner is Fifth Avenue, where you will find Tiffany & Co and Bergdorf Goodman.
“After 71 years, the Paris Theater has an enduring legacy, and remains the destination for a one-of-a kind moviegoing experience,” said Netflix’s chief content officer, Ted Sarandos. “We are incredibly proud to preserve this historic New York institution so it can continue to be a cinematic home for film lovers.”
The 581-seat theater, the last single screen in the city, has an elegant interior, with blue velvet seats and a purple-hued curtain, as well as a cozy balcony. Its first owner was Pathé and it originally showed French language films. Marlene Dietrich and the ambassador to France cut the ribbon in 1948 before a screening of La Symphonie Pastorale. The theater was picketed by angry Catholics led by Cardinal Spellman during a 1951 showing of Roberto Rossellini’s The Miracle, in which Anna Magnani plays a pregnant woman convinced she is carrying Christ.
In recent years, however, the Paris has made curious programming choices. While one wouldn’t expect to see Avengers there (how gauche!) the arthouse picks were rarely the ones in the movie-lover conversation (it was showing Ron Howard’s easily forgotten documentary Pavarotti when it shuttered). Moreover, it eschewed repertory titles, which was just throwing money away. What tourist wouldn’t want to see Breakfast at Tiffany’s in a classy auditorium inches away from the actual location?
While the Paris will be the go-to for special events, it will remain open to the public on a random Tuesday in March. Additionally, the programming concepts are “looking to get creative” with the entirety of Netflix’s slate, not just narrative feature films. “It all happened rather quickly, the theater only shut down in August,” the insider said. There is also nothing new to report about longstanding rumors of Netflix buying The Egyptian in Los Angeles. Also, there are no current plans to alter the interior. The Paris, remember, is blue; Netflix is red!
Source: What does the first official Netflix cinema mean for Hollywood? | Film | The Guardian