The maker of E.T., Raiders of the Lost Ark, and Schindler’s List obviously carries immense weight when it comes to defining what counts as a movie—and what doesn’t.
Spielberg himself has not revealed plans to direct any of the Netflix movies, and he made it clear in the announcement that he still had a longstanding partnership with Universal Pictures to make theatrical releases.
In the years since those comments, Spielberg’s contemporary and fellow champion of the theatrical experience, Martin Scorsese, has forged a productive partnership with Netflix, which released his 2019 gangland epic The Irishman, which collected 10 Oscar nominations, including best director and best picture.
But in that 2018 interview, Spielberg made himself clear: the Oscars should be for theatrical releases.
However, I feel people need to have the opportunity to leave the safe and familiar of their lives and go to a place where they can sit in the company of others and have a shared experience—cry together, laugh together, be afraid together—so that when it’s over they might feel a little less like strangers.
Even in those old comments, Spielberg, who began his career directing TV movies like the road-rage classic Duel, praised the current quality of at-home entertainment: “Television is greater today than it has ever been in the history of television.
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