This could be the year. The big one. Not to jinx anything, but 2016 will very likely go down in history as the year when Leonardo DiCaprio finally wins his well-deserved Oscar. His turn in The Revenant as real life invincible, revenge-hungry pioneer Hugh Glass was astonishing to say the least, and DiCaprio has already picked up a Golden Globe, a Critics' Choice Award, and numerous regional awards for his performance, and his path to Oscar gold looks pretty clear. But what if you were attacked by a bear and therefore have not yet been able to drag yourself to a movie theater to see this incredible performance? Well, if that's the case, then you're probably wondering when The Revenant will be on Netflix.
The most obvious answer is that it's going to be a while. The film is still doing well in theaters after its limited Christmas day release, it in fact reached number one at the box office just this past weekend, so its run in cinemas will likely continue for at least another couple of months. But then what? Will the movie take a quick trip to stream city, or is it going to take a bit more time?
In all likelihood, it's going to take some time. The movie doesn't even have a DVD/Blu-Ray release date yet, but it's currently estimated to be available on those formats sometime in April. That may seem like a quick turnaround, but that strategy has become the norm lately for many films. Spectre opened on November 6, for example, and already has its home media release date set for February 9. So a three to four month theater run seems about right for The Revenant before it heads to homes. So now, assuming that the movie can be owned in April, where does that leave Netflix?
It's difficult to say. Once in a while, Netflix scores a movie just a few months after it comes out on DVD. Like The Overnight, which was added to the streaming service this month, was released on home video just four months earlier. Other times, like with a big movie like Avatar, the gap between DVD and streaming has taken years. Given that The Revenant, like Avatar, is a big, Oscar-nominated blockbuster distributed by 20th Century Fox, I'm going to guess that it will be at least two years before The Revenant winds up on Netflix — if it ever does.
In case you haven't noticed, Netflix has been moving away from their old model of having the biggest new releases available on their site in favor of producing their own content. If you browse them right now, you'll notice almost all of the newer releases are smaller, independent films, and the big blockbusters that they do have are several years old. The one upcoming exception to this rule is films distributed by Walt Disney Studios, as Netflix has a new deal in place with the studio to gain first run access starting on films produced this year.
So from now on, unless it's an indie film, a Disney movie, or a Netflix original, any new movie is likely looking at a long wait before it streams on Netflix. And since The Revenant doesn't fall under any of the above three categories, you may want to think about lining up for that Blu-Ray come April.
Images: 20th Century Fox; giphy.com
