Theatre chains, not Netflix responsible for destroying cinemas, says Edward Norton

“If I disagreed with anybody, with great respect, it was (Steven) Spielberg. Netflix invested more in Roma’ theatrically than any boutique label at any studio would have by a factor of five. They put a Spanish-language black-and-white film all over the world in theatres. Hundreds of theatres, not just a few; as many as Sony Pictures Classics would have done.

“They put more money behind it, in a theatrical context, than anybody would have. You can’t tell me there’s a whole lot of people making black-and-white Spanish-language films and putting that investment behind them,” Norton told the Daily Beast in an interview, referring to the stand-off between the heavyweight producer and the streaming giant during this year’s Oscars.

Norton said Netflix represents an unprecedented period of ripe opportunity for many more types of stories and voices to be heard, and told, and celebrated.

The “Motherless Brooklyn” star, however, is unhappy with the way theatre chains are running their projectors.

“It’s the theater chains that are destroying the theatrical experience. Period, full-stop. No one else,” asking movie-goers to register their protest and demand that they be refunded if a theatre has delivered a sub par movie viewing experience.

“A lot of filmmakers and cinematographers that I know that have really started to look into this say that more than 60 percent of American theaters are running their projector at almost half the luminosity that they’re required by contract to run it at. They are delivering cr***y sound and a dim picture, and no one is calling them on it.