Netflix has been promoting its new original movie this week called, "War Machine." The film features Brad Pitt advertised in a compelling trailer that teases its audience with a mixture of Pitt's bravado, quirky smiles, cool demeanor, and a few good one-liners, "Finish your phone call," says saucy Brad Pitt to a preoccupied General, "the war can wait."
Although the film itself is touted as fiction, it follows the story of General Stanley McChrystal whose roller-coaster career was ended by a journalist's expose on him featured in Rolling Stone magazine.
Netflix climbs the ladder from TV to film
The real story though is that Netflix has now entered the film industry. Though television series are known for hooking their audiences to gripping stories and endearing characters that keep them coming back for more each night, a movie in the industry is often seen as the more serious form of media.
Netflix with its recently ranked $41.1 Billion business empire, according to Forbes, has recently grown this empire with their award-winning original t.v. series including "The Crown", "House of Cards", "Marco Polo", and "Orange is the New Black" among others. Film though, is not generally on the Netflix portfolio.
Television would seem the better investment when it comes to a home subscription service that wants viewership coming back rather than a one hit wonder.
However, this just proves how solid the thrown is on which Netflix now sits and just how much it is willing to spend to completely take over our living rooms, glue us to our couches, and leave movie theaters as a thing of the past.
'War Machine' premieres May 26th
Although "War Machine" is not the first original Netflix film, with stars like Brad Pitt, it is certainly gaining respect as a movie production company.
According to an article on Screenrant, Netflix is estimated to spend $240 million on four original movies in 2017. CNBC is reportedly spending a whopping $6 billion on original content. Netflix was even rated as having the best original content by Morgan Stanley, taking over the place that HBO once held for many years.
"Netflix's focus on high quality, exclusive and original content is paying off," writes Forbes.
As the production company restricts access to high-profile television series and well sought after movies like "War Machine", it is expected to keep its loyal following and subscribe even more users in the near future.
