Do any of you think this is a good idea? If this strikes gold for Sandler, I'm sure many more production companies will be willing to try this method. Will this make Netflix a powerhouse? Will this give artists more freedom with the type of movies they'd like to make?


http://m.hollywoodreporter.com/entry/view/id/694789


Warner Bros. No Longer in Talks to Make Adam Sandler's 'The Ridiculous Six' (Exclusive)

4:14 PM PST 10/07/2014 by Pamela McClintock
Chris Pizzello/Invision/AP
His deal to make four films for Netflix puts Hollywood studios in a tough spot

Warner Bros. is no longer in talks to make Adam Sandler's The Ridiculous Six, a Western comedy that faced a series of challenges, including the actor's decision to make four feature films exclusively for Netflix, sources tell The Hollywood Reporter.

The Netflix deal, announced Oct. 1, caught many by surprise, since Sandler is one of the studio system's most entrenched, and prolific, stars. He'll both star in and produce the four titles, meaning he'll be unavailable for long stretches of time for studio projects. His company, Happy Madison Productions, will develop the movies in tandem with Netflix.

A host of issues plagued Ridiculous Six well before Netflix announced its Sandler partnership. One insider said Warners' decision to walk away from the comedy had nothing to do with the streaming service, yet the decision coincided with word of Sandler's new deal.

Warners had been in talks for months to make the film, and during that time, Sandler's Blended badly underperformed for the studio, while Seth McFarlane's A Million Ways to Die in the West, another Western comedy, out and out bombed (Universal and Media Rights Capital made that film). Also, Warners and Happy Madison hadn't come to terms on the size of the production budget for Ridiculous Six.

Read more Netflix's Ted Sarandos Slams Theater Owners: They 'Try to Strangle Innovation' (Video)

It's not the first time Ridiculous Six has left the rodeo. Sony was originally set to make the movie, but put the film into turnaround in 2012. Paramount pursued the movie, then passed, with rights reverting to Sony.

Warner Bros. declined comment on Ridiculous Six. Sony and Happy Madison likewise declined comment, including as to whether Ridiculous Six could now be headed to Netflix.

Warner executives haven't made any official statements, but behind the scenes say they fully intend to work with Sandler again. And Sony, where Sandler has a longtime deal, says it has every intention of working with Sandler for years to come.

Read more Adam Sandler's Comedic Western Moves From Sony to Paramount (Exclusive)

Still, industry observers question what will happen once Sandler's current Sony commitments, including Pixels and Hotel Transylvania 2, have been completed and he turns his attention to his Netflix projects. Pixels, which just wrapped shooting, is set for release July 24, 2015. The Hotel Transylvania sequel rolls out Sept. 15, 2015, and there's a possible Grown Ups 3 in the offing.

Sources say Sandler, whose box-office track record has been up and down as of late, did call Sony and Warners to personally inform them of the deal, but didn't give much notice.




EDIT: Here's a little more elaboration on how the studios (and theaters) ain't feeling this move:


http://www.slashgear.com/netflix-hit-with-industry-backlash-over-new-movie-deals-07349635/



Netflix hit with industry backlash over new movie deals

Brittany Hillen

Netflix and Adam Sandler's Happy Madison Productions recently made a surprise announcement: that the video streaming service would partner in creating four new Sandler movies that will launch on Netflix exclusively. This immediately followed a similar announcement that Netflix will be making a second Crouching Tiger movie, launching it online at the same time as in IMAX theaters. Such moves were bound to happen and give consumers more control over their entertainment, but as expected, both have received substantial backlash from industry staples balking at the budding shift in how theatrical entertainment takes place.

The Hollywood Reporter says sources have told it Warner Bros. has dropped talks about producing Sandler's Western comedy The Ridiculous Six. The reason partly surrounds the deal with Netflix, though one source says the decision only merely coincided with the Netflix deal, but wasn't a direct result of it.

The sources say, among other things, that Sandler made a call himself to both Warner Bros. and Sony to let them know about his milestone partnership with Netflix, but that there wasn't much warning that it was coming, and the deal poses issues for studios on more than just the business level.

These troubles only hint at the wider issues the Netflix deal has caused, with theaters having threatened to boycott any film that will launch on Netflix before or at the same time as cinemas. Regal Cinemas is one such company, with the New York Times reporting that it said it won't "participate in an experiment where you can see the same product on screens varying from three stories tall to three inches wide on a smartphone."



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