Netflix’s Extinction: Is the era of Netflix blockbusters here?

Netflix has recently revealed the trailer for their newest original film, Extinction, and judging by the genre of the film, one has to wonder if this means we are entering the age of Netflix blockbusters.

Netflix is, at its very core, a simple streaming platform, dedicated to unloading a near-endless amount of content for viewers to binge on, from previously released blockbusters to some of television’s most iconic programming. It is this level of content and dedication from the folks over at Netflix headquarters that has skyrocketed the popularity of the streaming platform. In fact, it is popular enough to the point where Netflix itself has started to produce its own content and the newest Netflix original film, Extinction, is another addition to the list.

Extinction, which just had its first official trailer reveal, is shaping up to be an event not worth missing, as the story treads the familiar alien invasion trope in science fiction and adds some wrinkles in there to freshen up the concept. Netflix doesn’t look as though they skimped out on the budget for the film either, as multiple shots in the trailer contain vast amounts of action and horror that one can easily pair up with most high-budget mainstream films. But is it time to officially pair up Netflix blockbusters with other mainstream company blockbusters?

Predicting the end

Extinction stars Michael Pena (the beloved Luis in the Ant-Man films) as a man who has been recently suffering some strange and vivid nightmares of a potential alien invasion. Most pass off his nightmares as nothing more than simply that, but the invasion begins to seem more like a reality after some strange activity around the Earth seems to surface. It is the main element to follow in the film’s first trailer, which also stars our very own Luke Cage himself, Mike Colter. The Netflix collaborations continue as a result.

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The most notable aspect of the Extinction trailer is the apparent production value that is present in the trailer. Sure, nobody will mistake this with the most expensive film ever created or anything, but there is clearly some big money being thrown at this. The nightmare sequences with the alien invasion and the Earth’s resistance are shaping to be some genuinely exciting and well-crafted action scenes, which may be as a result of the big Netflix money being thrown their way.

Netflix stepping their game up

Netflix’s penchant for high-budget material may be stronger than ever, thanks to the recent announcement that Netflix would increase their spending limits to over $8 billion, with a plan to fund over 700 films and television shows. Keep in mind that Netflix is home to some of the most popular films and television shows out right now, including Stranger Things, Orange is the New Black, Ozark, GLOW and countless more projects. These are projects that are expected to receive higher budgets down the line as they get more popular.

Although Extinction was filmed before the official announcement from Netflix, it’s clear that Netflix had enough faith in the project to gift it a decent budget for a blockbuster, which is really the best way to describe the tone of Extinction‘s trailer. The film doesn’t look to be a complex character study, as the focus seems to be on the actual invasion itself, akin to something like a much more serious version of Independence Day. Finding out he film’s budget has been quite a challenge, considering it doesn’t seem to be anywhere online as of yet, but if it does contain a higher budget than most Netflix projects, don’t be surprised at how it received its budget.

A spot with the big boys

Despite their massive popularity in America and various other countries around the world, Netflix has consistently been treated as a second-rate company by various awards outlets and critics. Some critics feel as though Netflix could be instrumental in killing the movie theater business with its current model of premiering films on the streaming platform, which could encourage other companies to do the same. Extinction is a film that one would expect to receive a theater debut, but it is instead premiering on Netflix.

It’s not as if it’s the first time that has happened, as Bright made its highly anticipated debut on Netflix and became popular enough to grant a future sequel. Speaking of sequels, the loose sequel to first two Cloverfield films, The Cloverfield Paradox, made its debut the very night of the freaking Super Bowl, gaining massive coverage for its gutsy promotion. Yes, these films didn’t receive much critical love, but whether or not you personally enjoy any of those films is far from the point.

The point is that Netflix is clearly trying to establish itself as a worthy production company that easily stand toe-to-toe with companies that have more traditional business models. What scares some people is that it’s a viable comparison, as the releases of Bright and such have proven.

There’s so much stigma behind Netflix that the infamous Cannes Film Festival last year was the center of a massive backlash against Netflix for premiering some of their films at the festival. The films (Okja and The Meyerowitz Stories) received numerous high marks and overall highly positive reviews, but the folks at Cannes booed the hell out of them anyway for even daring to bear the Netflix logo. These films certainly aren’t blockbusters (though one could maybe argue that case for Okja), but they were nonetheless high profile releases for Netflix, much like how Extinction is shaping up to be.

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Whether the Netflix model kills the theater-going experience remains to be seen, but personally, it seems far-fetched, given that this year’s theater sales have seemingly surpassed last years’ sales with the success of an array of films, both art-house (Hereditary) and mainstream (Black Panther, A Quiet Place, Avengers: Infinity War). Despite that, it’s hard to argue that the era of Netflix blockbusters isn’t already here, especially with Netflix’s desire to fund more projects. The Netflix blockbusters aren’t going anywhere and if the trailer for Extinction is any indication, we could be getting the latest one pretty soon now.

Extinction will be released on Netflix on July 27th. What do you think? Is the era of Netflix blockbusters truly upon us or does Netflix still have a ways to go? Sound off in the comments below!