Esteemed British actress Helen Mirren knows how to get a crowd of movie theatre owners going - by hurling obscenities at their streaming competitors.
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"I love Netflix, but f--- Netflix!" Mirren shouted onstage at CinemaCon, the annual convention of movie exhibitors, while talking up new film "The Good Liar" at the Warner Bros presentation. She received thunderous applause.
"There is nothing like sitting in the cinema," she continued.
Mirren also thanked the group of exhibitors for giving her the best up-and-coming actress award years ago at the start of her film career.
The choice words from Mirren come at a time of tension between the theatrical release institution and streaming companies, who do not wish to put their movies exclusively in theatres before making them available to subscribers.
The monolithic digital shop run by Reed Hastings and Ted Sarandos has been drumming up ire since it took three Oscars this year for Alfonso Cuaron's "Roma". Following the Oscar telecast, director Steven Spielberg signalled he would lobby the film Academy to change its policies around the eligibility of movies from streaming companies to win Oscars.
Earlier in the day at CinemaCon, held at Las Vegas' Caesar's Palace Hotel and Casino, leadership from the National Association of Theater Owners and the MPAA fielded numerous questions about Netflix, including raising the years-old debate about trimming the amount of time films run in theatres before heading to other platforms like streaming and VOD.
Australian Associated Press
