Netflix is reportedly pushing more in theatrical releases but they’ve already been in the theatrical game for a while. Below, we’ll walk you through every single Netflix Original movie to have received a theatrical release or to have debuted at a film festival throughout Netflix’s history.
Note: special thanks to FilmsDeLover on Twitter for help with fleshing out this list. This list is a work-in-progress. If we’ve missed any please don’t hesitate to reach out in the comments or on social media. This list currently only includes global Netflix Original movie releases.
Why does Netflix release movies theatrically?
Going forward, it’s been suggested that Netflix may put more movies out theatrically to give them more “cultural impact”.
Are there box office figures for Netflix movies?
In short, no. Netflix does not release its box office figures as other studios do. There are instances where either international figures or other figures get released in the press but how accurate they are is unclear. We’ll include them in the notes below where we can.
Many documentaries also premiered at film festivals but we’re going to put those in a separate list further down the line for the sake of brevity.
Every Netflix Theatrical/Festival Debut Release by Year
2021 Theatrical Releases
2021 will see a heavily stacked second half of the year with the majority of theatrical releases coming out during the fall. Given the pandemic was still at large in the first half of 2021, that should hardly be surprising.
Army of the Dead reportedly scored $1 million in the US box office which goes against its reported $90 million budget.
| Movie Name | Theatrical Release Type | Theatrical Release Date | Netflix Release Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| The White Tiger | Limited Theatrical Release | January 13th | January 22nd |
| The Dig | Limited Theatrical Release | January 15th | January 29th |
| Malcolm & Marie | Limited Theatrical Release | January 29th | February 5th |
| Army of the Dead | Limited Theatrical Release | May 14th | May 21st |
| Beckett | Locarno | August 4th | August 13th |
| Kate | Limited Theatrical Release | September 15th | September 15th |
| The Starling | Limited Theatrical Release | September 19th | September 24th |
| The Guilty | Limited Theatrical Release | September 24th | October 1st |
| Fever Dream | Limited Theatrical Release | October TBD | October TBD |
| The Harder They Fall | Limited Theatrical Release | October 22nd | November 3rd |
| Passing | Limited Theatrical Release | October 27th | November 10th |
| tick, tick…BOOM! | Limited Theatrical Release | November 12th | November 19th |
| Bruised | Limited Theatrical Release | November 17th | November 24th |
| 7 Prisoners | Limited Theatrical Release | November TBD | November TBD |
| The Power of the Dog | Limited Theatrical Release | November 17th | December 1st |
| The Unforgivable | Limited Theatrical Release | November 24th | December 10th |
| The Hand of God | Limited Theatrical Release | December 3rd | December 15th |
| Don’t Look Up | Limited Theatrical Release | December 10th | December 24th |
| The Lost Daughter | Limited Theatrical Release | December 17th | December 31st |
2020 Netflix Theatrical Releases
The Trial of the Chicago 7 reportedly opened in 100 theaters with reports that the movie only averaged 10 people a showing.
It’s worth noting too that Da 5 Bloods was originally slated for a theatrical release.
| Movie Name | Theatrical Release Type | Theatrical Release | Netflix Release Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| The Forty-Year-Old Version | Sundance + Showed in Netflix’s The Paris | January 25th | October 9th, 2020 |
| Horse Girl | Sundance | January 27th | February 7th |
| His House | Sundance | January 27th | October 30th |
| Lost Girl | Sundance | January 28th | March 13th |
| Sergio | Sundance | January 28th | April 17th |
| Taylor Swift: Miss Americana | Limited Theatrical Release | January 31st | January 31st |
| The Decline | Limited Theatrical Release | February 2020 | March 27th |
| Tigertail | Limited Theatrical Release | April 10th | April 10th |
| The Half of It | Tribeca Film Festival | April 18th | May 1st |
| The Last Thing He Wanted | Sundance | January 27th | February 21st |
| I’m Thinking of Ending Things | Limited Theatrical Release | August 28th | September 4th |
| Pieces of Her | TIFF + Limited Theatrical Release | September 4th / December 30th | January 7th, 2021 |
| The Devil All the Time | Limited Theatrical Release | September 11th | September 16th |
| Concrete Cowboy | TIFF | September 13th | April 2, 2021 |
| The Trial of the Chicago 7 | Limited Theatrical Release | September 25th | October 16th |
| Rebecca | Select British Theaters | October 16th | October 21st |
| Over the Moon | MFF + Limited Theatrical Release | October 17th / October 23rd | October 23rd |
| The Life Ahead | Limited Release | November 6th | November 13th |
| Hillbilly Elegy | Limited Theatrical Release | November 11th | November 24th |
| MANK | Limited Theatrical Release | November 13th | December 4th |
| Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom | Limited Theatrical Release | November 25th | December 18th |
| The Prom | Limited Theatrical Release | December 4th | December 11th |
| The Midnight Sky | Limited Theatrical Release | December 11th | December 23rd |
2019 Netflix Theatrical Releases
| Movie Name | Theatrical Release Type | Theatrical Release | Netflix Release Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| Velvet Buzzsaw | Sundance + Limited Theatrical Release | January 27th | February 1st |
| High Flying Bird | Slamdance | January 27th | February 8th |
| Paddleton | Sundance | February 1st | February 22nd |
| Triple Frontier | Limited Theatrical Release | March 6th | March 13th |
| The Highwaymen | SXSW + Limited Theatrical Release | March 10th / March 15th | March 29th |
| Wine Country | Limited Theatrical Release | May 8th | May 10th |
| Rolling Thunder Revue: A Bob Dylan Story | Limited Theatrical Release | June 12th | June 12th |
| The Red Sea Diving Resort | SFJFF | July 28th | July 31st |
| Marriage Story | Venice + Limited Theatrical Release | August 29th / November 6th | November 15th |
| The Two Popes | Telluride + TIFF + Limited Theatrical Release | August 31st / September 9th / Nomveber 27th | December 20th |
| The Laundromat | Venice + Limited Theatrical Release | September 1st / September 27th | October 18th |
| The King | Veince + Limited Theatrical Release | September 2nd | October 11th |
| Dolemite Is My Name | TIFF + Limited Theatrical Release | September 7th / October 4th | October 25th |
| American Son | TIFF | September 12th | November 1st |
| In the Tall Grass | Fantastic Fest | September 20th | October 4th |
| In the Shadow of the Moon | Fantastic Fest | September 21st | September 27th |
| Fractured | Fantastic Fest | September 22nd | October 11th |
| Seventeen | San Sebastián + Limited Theatrical Release | September 27th | October 18th |
| The Irishman | NYFF + Limited Theatrical Release | September 27th / November 1st (Nov 15 – International) | November 27th |
| Earthquake Bird | LFF + Limited Theatrical Release | October 10th / November 1st | November 15th |
| El Camino: A Breaking Bad Movie | Limited Theatrical Release | October 11th | October 11th |
| Klaus | Limited Theatrical Release | November 8th | November 15th |
| 6 Underground | Limited Theatrical Release | December 13th | December 13th |
2018 Netflix Theatrical Releases
| Movie Name | Theatrical Release Type | Theatrical Release | Netflix Release Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| Private Life | Sundance | January 18th | October 5th |
| Come Sunday | Sundance | January 21st | April 13th |
| Roxanne Roxanne | Sundance | January 22nd | March 23rd |
| Monster | Sundance | January 22nd | May 7th, 2021 |
| A Futile and Stupid Gesture | Sundance | January 24th | January 26th |
| The Legacy of a Whitetail Deer Hunter | SXSW | March 10th | July 6th |
| First Match | SXSW | March 12th | March 30th |
| 6 Balloons | SXSW | March 12th | April 6th |
| Paradox | SXSW | March 15th | March 23rd |
| Alex Strangelove | SFF | April 14th | June 8th |
| Calibre | Edinburgh International Film Festival+ Limited Theatrical Release | June 22nd | June 29th |
| The Most Assassinated Woman in the World | BIFFF | – | September 7th |
| Cam | FIFF | July 18th | November 16th |
| The Other Side of the Wind | Venice | August 31st | November 2nd |
| On My Skin | Venice | August 29th | September 12th |
| ROMA | Venice + Limited Theatrical Release | August 30th / November 23rd | December 14th |
| The Ballad of Buster Scruggs | Venice + Limited Theatrical Release | August 31st | November 9th |
| 22 July | Venice + Limited Theatrical Release | September 5th / October 10th | October 10th |
| Outlaw King | TIFF | September 6th | November 9th |
| Lionheart | TIFF | September 7th | January 4th, 2019 |
| Soni | Venice | September 8th | January 18th, 2019 |
| The Land of Steady Habits | TIFF | September 12th | September 14th |
| Hold the Dark | TIFF | September 12th | September 28th |
| The Perfection | Fantastic Fest | September 20th | May 24th, 2019 |
| Apostle | Fantastic Fest | September 21st | October 12th |
| The Night Comes for Us | Fantastic Fest | September 21st | October 19th |
| Bird Box | AFI Fest + Limited Theatrical Release | November 12th | December 14th |
| Mowgli: Legend of the Jungle | Limited Theatrical Release | November 29th | December 7th |
| Benji | Limited International Release | December 28th | March 16th |
2017 Netflix Theatrical Releases
Netflix released 40 movies globally in 2017.
Notably, in 2017, Okja was the first movie from Netflix to premiere at the Cannes Film Festival although it wasn’t without controversy.
| Movie Name | Theatrical Release Type | Theatrical Release | Netflix Release Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| Imperial Dreams | Sundance | January 20th | February 3rd |
| I Don’t Feel at Home in This World Anymore | Sundance | January 19th | February 24th |
| Mudbound | Sundance + Limited Theatrical | January 21st | November 17th |
| Burning Sands | Sundance | January 24th | March 10th |
| Deidra & Laney Rob a Train | Sundance | January 23rd | March 17th |
| The Discovery | Sundance | January 20th | March 31st |
| To the Bone | Sundance | January 22nd | July 14th |
| The Polka King | Sundance | January 22nd | January 12th, 2018 |
| The Incredible Jessica James | Sundance | January 27th | July 28th |
| The Most Hated Woman in America | SXSW | March 14th | March 24th |
| Win It All | SXSW | March 11th | April 7th |
| Small Crimes | SXSW | March 11th | April 28th |
| Okja | Cannes | May 18th | June 28th |
| Death Note | FrightFest | August 24th | August 25th |
| First They Killed My Father | Telluride + TIFF | – | September 15th |
| Our Souls at Night | Venice Film Festival | September 1st | September 27th |
| Unicorn Store | TIFF | September 11th | April 5th, 2019 |
| Cargo | Adelaide Film Festival | October 6th | May 18th, 2018 |
| The Meyerowitz Stories | Cannes + Limited Release | May 21st / October 13th | October 13th |
| 1922 | Fantastic Fest | September 23rd | October 20th |
2016 Netflix Theatrical Releases
Netflix released 17 movies globally in 2016 with the vast majority debuting at a film festival. Only one movie got a somewhat limited theatrical release with XOXO playing in one theater for a week.
| Movie Name | Theatrical Release Type | Theatrical Release | Netflix Release Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tallulah | Sundance | January 23rd | July 29th |
| Brahman Naman | Sundance | January 24th | July 7th |
| The Fundamentals of Caring | Sundance | January 29th | June 24th |
| Pee-Wee’s Big Holiday | SXSW | March 17th | March 18th |
| Rebirth | Tribeca | April 17th | July 15th |
| Mercy | LA Film Fest | June 4th | November 22nd |
| The Siege of Jadotville | Galway Film Festival + Limited Release | July 10th / September 19th | October 7th |
| XOXO | Limited (Laemmle Royal Theater) | August 24th | August 26th |
| Barry | TIFF | September 10th | December 16th |
| ARQ | TIFF | September 9th | September 16th |
| Mascots | TIFF | September 10th | October 13th |
| I Am the Pretty Thing That Lives in the House | TIFF | September 10th | October 28th |
| Tramps | TIFF | September 10th | April 21st, 2017 |
2015 Netflix Theatrical Releases
Beasts of No Nation was the first movie that got Netflix into the movie business. It debuted at the Toronto Film Festival while also getting a limited theatrical release from Bleecker Street day and date with the Netflix launch.
The Numbers suggest the movie grossed just shy of $100,000.
Netflix only released two movies for the entirety of 2015 with the other being Adam Sandler’s The Ridiculous 6.
| Movie Name | Theatrical Release Type | Theatrical Release | Netflix Release Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| Beasts of No Nation | Sundance + Limited Release | October 16th | October 16th |
