Netflix Reinvents the Repertory Screening

PLUS: Hard to Wear Hardware

Author

Steve
August 26, 2025

Hola Hollywood tech nerds!

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Netflix Reinvents the Repertory Screening

One of my controversial opinions is that, like the media in general, the entertainment press is way too easy/soft on the tech companies, handling them with a much more gentle touch than they ever would one of the studios. This has been a problem with tech coverage in general for decades now, and is one of the reasons the tech oligarchs get so upset when subjected to scrutiny.

This is sometimes insidious rather than explicit, in many cases I don’t even know if the writer intends to go easy, it’s just the natural kid gloves treatment of the tech man-babies.

This is prompted by an otherwise-interesting Variety piece about Netflix’s US theatrical release of its film KPop Demon Hunters, the popularity of which is so great that it’s already on the service and yet:

…the streamer is putting the animated hit in theaters — and not just the cursory Oscar-qualifying run its prestige titles get in New York and Los Angeles. This one is going wide, in more than 1,700 venues, for karaoke-captioned screenings in which audience participation is encouraged.

My (complete lack of) desire to see this movie notwithstanding, faithful readers know cool theater experiences are one of my constant bugaboos so I will always favor any instance where audiences are encouraged to go out to see a movie.

That said: the Variety piece annoys me primarily because of its framing of this as a “unicorn event” that Netflix discovered organically. Why golly-gee, these Netflix wizards just happened to stumble upon some unique dark alchemy that convinced audiences to show up for a movie:

Netflix has a full slate of big-screen-worthy movies coming this fall, including Sundance marvel “Train Dreams,” Guillermo del Toro’s “Frankenstein” and Kathryn Bigelow’s “A House of Dynamite,” but however many millions “KPop Demon Hunters” earns this weekend, that doesn’t mean the streamer will rush to open those films wide.

To repeat this experiment, they’d need another proven success with a built-in audience willing to pay to rewatch a film they first saw on streaming. Netflix has the numbers to indicate what time of year certain movies are popular. Maybe a Christmas release of last year’s “Carry On” could work.

Or maybe this is a unicorn event for which we should simply be grateful: For two days only, nonsubscribers can see “KPop Demon Hunters,” surrounded by singing groupies whose enthusiasm willed the streaming phenomenon onto the big screen.

“To repeat this experiment…” sorry, is the implication that it was heretofore unknown that audiences would enthusiastically turn out to the theater for certain properties and it took Netflix “experimenting” to figure that out? The Rocky Horror Picture Show is turning 50 years old this year and by some estimates has made almost half a billion (inflation-adjusted) dollars over its lifetime.

The problem is that Netflix does not care about the movie business in general, it cares only about Netflix business. Theaters and the communal theatrical experience are an essential part of keeping movies alive. As I wrote about a previous dunderheaded Variety article:

The problem with Variety‘s piece (and the studio mindset it represents) is that yes, obviously on a per-movie basis, it makes sense to get as much value out of the release as possible. You don’t want to do a second round of marketing on a movie that already bombed.

On a macro level, however, what you’re doing is training your potential audience that they don’t need to go see a movie in the theater ever, because it is always just a few weeks away from being available at home. Why bother?

You want to build the habit of going to the movies, particularly with younger people.

Hard to Wear Hardware

I really appreciated this piece from Janko Roettgers over at his excellent newsletter Lowpass (to which you should absolutely subscribe, Roettgers does incredible reporting every week).

Titled “Apple Suffers from Hardware Anthropomorphism,” it really lays out well why some of Apple’s recent hardware offerings have missed the mark, eg the Apple Vision Pro:

The Apple Vision Pro’s outward-facing display, included solely to show the wearer’s eyes, was heralded as a breakthrough to make headsets less isolating, and more inclusive to bystanders. In reality, it’s been just a weird, costly distraction. There’s a reason Tim Cook’s very first photo donning a Vision Pro has him far away from the camera, at an angle that makes it all but impossible to see his eyes…

This is why I agree with Wired’s opinion “Meta Has Already Won the Smart Glasses Race,” which touches on Meta’s investment in a glasses-making company:

That likely explains the company’s decision to go all in by acquiring an approximately 3 percent equity stake in EssilorLuxottica, which, in addition to Ray-Ban, also makes Oakley, Persol, and Prada glasses, plus many more. It's a transaction that has been valued at $3.5 billion—a move that formally makes Meta a strategic minority shareholder and elevates it beyond its prior role as a technology partner.

What’s behind this is the point that Roettgers is getting at: successful wearables will be an adaptation of existing things that people use and carry with them on a regular basis, just like watches and phones. People are accustomed to wearing glasses and sunglasses or being around people who are wearing them. They’re not used to giant clunky headsets or talking to someone with them on. This is clear from Meta’s sales figures:

Meta’s Ray-Ban smart glasses have become a surprise hit. Since launching the second generation in October 2023, they’ve sold more than 2 million units. Sales tripled in Q2 2025 alone, helping drive Meta’s 22 percent year-over-year revenue growth. Zuckerberg has reportedly challenged teams to push that figure to 5 million by year’s end.

That’s a lot better than the Apple Vision Pro, both for the reasons listed above and the AVP’s brutal price point.

My ideal smart glasses wearable is this: a device I can wear at the gym on the treadmill where I can watch true crime documentaries without (A) looking down at my phone, (B) being judged by the person next to me and (C) spending more than my monthly rent on it. Whoever gets there first gets my cash!!

Here’s a round-up of cool and interesting links about Hollywood and technology:

LOTR: The Rings of Power has over 6,000 VFX shots. (link)

Wrecking the future with Alien: Earth’s production design. (link)

The class action lawsuit threatening AI companies. (link)