From the phone to the plex: why TV shows are turning into movies

A successful cinema release for the new Peaky Blinders movie provided marketing opportunities that could lead to a reverse in the stream-first model In its first three days on Netflix, Peaky Blinders: The Immortal Man movie racked up more than 25m views – miles ahead of the competition that week. No matter that it had also had a cinema run in the UK, after a grand red carpet premiere at Birmingham’s Symphony Hall on 2 March. Banijay Entertainment, one of the production companies behind the film, has also launched the official Peaky Blinders shop, an online store selling branded merchandise. Such hoopla highlights how streaming platforms, led by Netflix, are increasingly reversing the traditional content pipeline from the cinema to streaming. Instead of films migrating from cinemas to streaming, moviegoers are finding they’re going the other way too as their favourite streaming shows and films are turning up on the big screen. Beyond marketing or awards qualification, these forays into the movie theatres are becoming a more meaningful avenue for building franchises and boosting revenue. But in expanding beyond the TV screen, streaming platforms also risk alienating core fans. Cateri