Netflix will drop significantly fewer movies in 2023 vs. the 80 it released in 2022, but the platform remains committed to an aggressive Q4 slate full of heavy adult drama and weighty documentaries.
Starting back on Sept. 15, with the limited theatrical release (and simultaneous debut on Netflix) of Chilean comedy-horror film El Conde, Netflix will ply its dual theatrical/homevid release strategy to 10 films, aiming for both platform engagement and awards-season prestige.
Last month, Netflix premiered five films at the Toronto Film Festival, what is generally considered the kickoff event for yet another odious four-month navel-gazing orgy of pitting works of art in competition (aka Hollywood's "Awards Season"): the noirish detective drama Reptile starring Benicio Del Toro; David Yates' pharmaceutical-scandal-themed Pain Hustlers starring Emily Blunt, Chris Evans, Catherine O’Hara; biopic NYAD starring Annette Bening and Jodie Foster; $20 million Sundance acquisition Fair Play; and Civil Rights drama Rustin.
And on Monday, Netflix released the trailer for Leave the World behind, an adaptation of writer Rumaan Alam's 2020 novel about two yuppies vacationing in the Hamptons with their kids while the world collapses back home. It stars Julia Roberts, Mahershala Ali and Ethan Hawke.
Leave the World Behind will get a Dec. 8 premiere date from Netflix, with the platform's coveted holiday-week slot (Dec. 20) belonging to Maestro, a Leonard Bernstein biopic directed by and starring Bradley Cooper.
The dual release strategy has been a reliable generator of high Netflix usage and awards-season marketing prestige for Netflix in recent years, particularly for movies that arrive in the December frame
Netflix, for instance, released Alfonso Cuarón's family drama Roma on December 14, 2018, then watched it win three Oscars, one for Best Picture.
Released just a week later, Sandra Bullock-led horror film Bird Box became Netflix's most streamed movie ever up until that time.
Last year, Netflix bowed a modern day multinational adaptation of All Quiet on the Western Front in November, winning Oscars for Best International Feature Film and Original Score. Meanwhile, in the Dec. 23 money slot, it debuted Knives Out sequel The Glass Onion, returning actor Daniel Craig to the role of Southern sleuth Benoit Blanc, capturing over 127 hours of streaming over the Christmas - New Years holiday week.
A year earlier, Adam McKay's satirical Don't Look Up captured more than 152 million streaming hours over the same holiday frame.
Netflix's full 2023 slate can be seen on this page.
