A Changing Movie Industry

Famous movie franchises like Star Wars and Marvel break box office charts every year but some new and unknown movies that aren’t released in theaters, get millions of views in their first day of being released. How do those movies become so popular so fast?

These movies became so popular because these movies were released on Netflix. Netflix and other streaming services like Hulu and Amazon video are making millions. As of the beginning of 2018, Netflix had nearly 118 million subscribers globally. Netflix is how most teens watch their favorite television shows and movies. This is how Netflix Original movies like The Kissing Booth and To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before became so popular.

The Kissing Booth is a romantic comedy that was released on Netflix on May 11th, 2018 and racked up 18 million views in its first week of being released. Not even a month later, Netflix chief content officer said that The Kissing Booth is “one of the most watched movies in the country and maybe in the world” and at that time the movie had 46 million views.

Then on August 17th, 2018, another romantic comedy To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before was released to Netflix. Just like The Kissing Booth this movie was everywhere. When I asked sophomore, Isabella Mule about how she finds out about those movies she said, “All my friends told me to go watch those movies. Everyone was posting about the movies on social media.”

Who knows what other movies Netflix and other streaming services have in store for their viewers? But it is pretty clear that the movie industry has underwent a significant change because of  companies like Netflix.