Netflix may pride themselves on an extensive roster of original movies and TV shows as they continue to remain the dominant force in the streaming wars, but the company aren’t above purchasing pre-existing projects that were set up at rival studios, either. Enola Holmes became one of the platform’s biggest-ever hits after debuting in September, but the mystery caper was originally a Warner Bros. production destined for a theatrical release before Netflix swooped in to purchase the rights in April.
Paramount in particular have sold off several big titles to the streaming giant including The Cloverfield Paradox, Alex Garland’s Annihilation, low budget horror Eli, Beverly Hills Cop IV and Aaron Sorkin’s The Trial of the Chicago 7, while Andy Serkis’ Mowgli: Legend of the Jungle moved over from Warner Bros. after the studio couldn’t figure out what to do with a movie that was produced so close to Jon Favreau’s live-action Disney remake.
However, it seems Netflix now want to enter uncharted territory with the bombshell that Godzilla vs. Kong has become the subject of a bidding war worth hundreds of millions of dollars. Yesterday, the news broke that Adam Wingard’s MonsterVerse sequel could be the latest major release to skip theaters entirely and head straight to streaming, with Netflix reported to have come forward with a massive $200 million offer to snag the project.
Warner Bros. own the theatrical distribution rights to the shared kaiju universe, and are said to have blocked the deal so that they can put together a package of their own to secure Godzilla vs. Kong as an HBO Max exclusive. Presumably, though, whoever ends up handing over the most money in the end will be declared the winner, and we all know that nobody in the industry has deeper pockets than Netflix.