Director Of Acclaimed Netflix Series Reveals Why Company Won’t OK Physical Release
A hit Netflix series may become unwatchable in the future, but the director has a plan, though there's still one major problem.
As streaming evolves at a dizzying pace, subscribers to services like Max and Disney+ have been burned by the sudden removal of movies and shows that cannot be found anywhere else. This has left fans hungry for physical media.
As reported by CinemaBlend, Mike Flanagan, the esteemed creator of hits like Midnight Mass and The Midnight Club, said not to expect a DVD and Blu-ray push from Netflix any time soon.
Responding on Twitter to a fan requesting a DVD release of Midnight Mass, Flanagan said, “I tried for years to convince Netflix to release all of my work on physical media, they won’t do it. I think it would take a major shift in their internal culture (which isn’t impossible, just very unlikely at the moment).” Flanagan tagged Netflix in the post.
Midnight Mass, The Midnight Club, and Flanagan’s upcoming Netflix series The Fall of the House of Usher are not on track for a physical release. Those series were made under an overall television deal Flanagan signed with Netflix in early 2019. The deal was made on the heels of the wildly successful The Haunting of Hill House.
Hill House and its follow-up, The Haunting of Bly Manor, were released on physical media after their debuts on Netflix. Many other Netflix originals have received the Blu-ray and DVD treatment, including hits like Stranger Things, House of Cards, and The Crown.
So… Why is the critically acclaimed Midnight Mass trapped on Netflix?
At the end of the day, you’d have to ask the folks in charge at the streamer. However, there are clues.
Midnight Mass and The Midnight Club are stuck on Netflix with the company refusing any type of physical media release.
First, not every Netflix original is owned solely by Netflix. The streamer can call a series an original if they have exclusive distribution rights, but that does not mean Netflix produced the show.
In the days before studios created their own streaming services, they routinely licensed shows to streamers like Netflix. Those deals varied, but they often kept physical media choices in the studio’s hands.
Midnight Mass and other projects under Flanagan’s deal at Netflix do not operate this way. When it comes to releasing Midnight Mass on DVD and Blu-ray, the ball is in Netflix’s court. As Flanagan said, the streamer does not have a culture that currently prioritizes physical media.
Prioritizing a competitive online library of exclusive content has been in Netflix’s best interest; in the past few years, everyone and their mom have launched a competitive streaming service. Netflix set the pace for the streaming wars by spending billions to bolster its content library. As others followed suit, it became clear that the model was not sustainable.
As the industry undergoes yet another paradigm shift, the company may have room to change its tune. As Flanagan said, Midnight Mass could find its way to a physical release if the culture at Netflix shifts. Though the filmmaker calls such a move unlikely, no one can predict the ever-transforming landscape of the entertainment industry.
Flanagan’s final Netflix series, The Fall of the House of Usher, is set to release exclusively on the streamer later this year. The Midnight Mass creator will then leave Netflix to pick up his TV efforts under a new deal at Amazon.
