Netflix releases hundreds of new movies and television episodes each month for its subscribers. One release coming later this month may catch viewer attention with a throwback to an earlier method of renting films.
What Happened: “The Last Blockbuster” documentary, which tells the tale of the fall of the retail movie rental chain, was released in 2020.
The documentary is set to be begin streaming on Netflix Inc NFLX on March 15.
The movie tells of the rise and fall of Blockbuster and also dives into the lone remaining store in Bend, Oregon.
The lone Blockbuster store has been in the spotlight for its Twitter account with over 400,000 followers and a promotion it ran to host a sleepover in the store.
Related Link: The Penny Stock Behind Blockbuster Surges 1,400%: Rise From The Dead Or Mistaken Identity?
Why It’s Important: Netflix Founder Reed Hastings approached Blockbuster CEO John Antioco in 2000 about a possible buyout for $50 million, according to Business Insider.
Netflix at the time was a DVD mailing service that was losing money.
Antioco called Netflix a “very small niche business.”
Netflix ended 2020 with 203.66 million subscribers. The company is now valued at more than $230 billion.
Blockbuster had over 9,000 stores at its peak. The retailer slowly suffered from a rise in competition like Netflix's DVD-by-mail service and ultimately the growth of streaming services.
Isn’t It Ironic?: Viewers will watch the Blockbuster documentary on a streaming service that may have been responsible for its demise.
“It was always in the back of our minds that it would be the perfect ironic place for the movie to end up,” the film's director Taylor Morden told What’s On Netflix.
The director calls Netflix a character in the movie: the villain, with the last Blockbuster as the hero.
“The first day we started working on the doc, we thought it would be a beautiful irony if we could get it on to Netflix,” writer Zeke Kamm said. “It seemed like the perfect fit considering the history between the two companies.”
NFLX Price Action: shares of Netflix were up 2.5% at $517.13 at last check Thursday.
Photo by Coasterlover1994 via Wikimedia.
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