On March 12, the science-fiction feature film Annihilation will arrive on Netflix. A rather curious exit, motivated by a concern on the part of Paramount. What a concern? Simply a failure of the film in theaters. Focus!
Annihilation introduces us to Nathalie Portman as a biologist and ex-soldier, forced to return to service in a more than curious dimension, filled with monsters and other bizarre plants. In itself, nothing seems very fabulous in this scenario halfway between fantasy and SF. But obviously, the feature film is far from convincing during the first test screenings. Paramount has therefore changed its mind and will only release the film in theaters in the United States, Canada and China. For the rest of the world, it will be Netflix (just to avoid disaster). It is also amusing to note that the film will not be released on Netflix in the countries that will broadcast it in theaters (we must give the film a chance to succeed a little in theaters).
It must be admitted that this maneuver, in addition to being cautious by Paramount, can also be very wise. Indeed, Netflix currently has a monopoly on video on demand in homes. This could allow the film to acquire a visibility that it would never have had in the cinema. In addition, the publicity offered by this withdrawal of the film from theaters is likely to make the happiness of Netflix as well as the creators of the film. After all, there is no such thing as bad publicity! And if viewers hear about this film and the reasons for its arrival on Netflix, it's a safe bet that they are curious and decide to discover it. In short, it is above all a beautiful marketing coup that we are witnessing from Paramount as well as Netflix (the platform even assuming the role of the savior of cinematographic works of all kinds).
In addition to finding Nathalie Portman, you can also find Oscar Isaac (Star Wars 8, The Promise) in this work based on the eponymous book by Jeff VanderMeer. We do not know if the film is good but what is certain is that it has a good cast!
