James Cameron says Netflix films shouldn’t qualify for Oscars

Despite 10 Academy Award nominations since 2019, Oscar glory has eluded Netflix.

It’s not as if the streaming behemoth, which has more than 300 million subscribers, hasn’t been trying. It even came close several times, especially with Roma and The Power Of The Dog, and an Oscar – at least in Netflix’s mind – would legitimize their business strategy and the existential crisis it has inflicted on cinemas and the theatrical experience.

But if it were up to James Cameron, the lack of Golden Baldies should continue.

In an interview with Matthew Belloni on his podcast The Town with Matthew Belloni, the director was asked about Netflix’s current attempt to acquire Warner Bros., and he did not mince his words.

“I think Paramount’s the best choice,” said Cameron. “Netflix would be a disaster. Sorry, Ted (Netflix CEO Ted Sarandos), but geez. Sarandos has gone on the record saying theatrical films are dead. ‘Theatrical is dead’. Quote, unquote.”

When Belloni told Cameron that Sarandos is “now promising theatres if he buys Warner Bros.”, Cameron replied: “It’s sucker bait. ‘We’ll put the movie out for a week or 10 days. We’ll qualify for Oscar consideration.’ See, I think that’s fundamentally rotten to the core. A movie should be made as a movie for theatrical, and the Academy Awards mean nothing to me if they don’t mean theatrical. I think they’ve been co-opted, and I think it’s horrific.”

When asked whether Netflix should be allowed to have its films be eligible for Oscars, Cameron said he doesn’t believe they should – unless Netflix change their release strategy.

“They should be allowed to compete if they put the movie out for a meaningful release in 2,000 theaters for a month,” he said.

Considering Sarandos recently stated that he believed the traditional moviegoing experience was “an outmoded idea”, the chance of a proper theatrical window for Netflix films seems unlikely.

It’s hard not to side with Cameron on this one, as theatres worldwide have found their business negatively impacted by streaming platforms, led by Netflix – especially in the wake of COVID 19. To their credit, Netflix finances projects other studios pass on and appears to give directors free reign. However, potential award contenders are given the narrowest of release windows every year, just long enough to meet Oscar eligibility requirements, before being pulled from cinemas and dumped in the streaming movie graveyard.

Anyone who has seen Guillermo del Toro’s Frankenstein will know that watching it on even the most impressive home cinema set-up is no match for seeing it on the big screen. To say nothing of the power and joy inherent to a shared cinemagoing experience.

Speaking of which, Netflix will be banking on Frankenstein this year as one of its award hopefuls, alongside Train Dreams and probably George Clooney-starrer Jay Kelly.

However, these films only received limited theatrical releases before heading to straight to Netflix – and the streamer is still expecting these titles to be celebrated on the same level as movies which have been in cinemas – and don’t have the multi-million marketing budget to compete with Netflix’s desperate award pushes...

Since 2019, these are the following Netflix titles to have been nominated for Best Picture at the Oscars: Roma (2019), The Irishman (2020), Marriage Story (2020), Mank (2021), The Trial of the Chicago 7 (2021), Don’t Look Up (2022), The Power Of The Dog (2022), All Quiet on the Western Front (2023), Maestro (2024) and Emilia Pérez (2025).

None won, though both Alfonso Cuarón and Jane Campion won Best Director for Roma and The Power Of The Dog respectively.

As for James Cameron, his films have won multiple Oscars, including three for Titanic in 1998 (Best Picture, Best Director and Best Film Editing) and three for Avatar in 2010 (Best Art Direction, Best Cinematography and Best Visual Effects).

Avatar: Fire And Ash, the third instalment in the Avatar franchise, is set to have its world premiere at Hollywood’s Dolby Theatre on 1 December, before being released in European cinemas on 17 December.

In our review of the second chapter, Avatar: The Way Of Water, we wrote: "I wish I’d spent an evening being traditionally waterboarded.” Read the full review here.

Two more Avatar films are currently projected to be released in 2029 and 2031.