• by Wayne Friedman , Staff Writer, 8 hours ago

Netflix's dominance keeps growing. It is now making a first-of-its-kind global deal with Sony Pictures Entertainment that brings all Sony’s theatrical movies to the big streaming service after their theatrical run.

The existing deal with Netflix has first rights for airing after theatrical release  for the U.S., Germany and across many territories across Southeast Asia. Netflix also gets selected Sony library content -- feature films and TV shows.

Sony Pictures Entertainment does own streaming platforms but more of a niche variety -- thus the big deal with Netflix.

Other Hollywood-based studios also make deals with Netflix, but on a much more selective level and typically on a non-exclusive/shared basis with their own in-house or third-party streamers.

Sony Pictures' lesser overall linear/streaming leverage would seem to have made the right call. Netflix was the obvious choice to make a deal for Sony. The dominant premium streamer would have the wherewithal to make a big, pricey deal.

This is not to say that Paramount, Warner Bros. Discovery, Walt Disney and NBCUniversal do not want to work with Nielsen.

They continue to make deals -- especially for library TV shows, or past seasons of current TV shows and slightly older films -- because Netflix has been a well-paying customer for some time.

Which Sony movies for Netflix? Upcoming Sony theatrical releases include “Spider-Man: Brand New Day,” sequels to “The Social Network” and “Jumanji,” “Spider-Man: Beyond the Spider-Verse,” and the Sam Mendes quartet of “Beatles” films on the calendar for 2026 and beyond.

This comes as Netflix continues to pursue Warner Bros. Discovery to attain more of this kind of theatrical content after its theatrical showing.

While Netflix has given positive signs that it will continue to support theatrical exhibition of movies, critics wonder about the details.

That brings up a near-term question. What's left for HBO Max if Netflix succeeds in its merger efforts?