Netflix’s Potential Oscar Winner, ‘The Irishman’ Will Hit Theaters Nov. 1, Film Will Spend 27 Days Before Becoming Available To Stream

Netflix announced their highly anticipated The Irishman—which reunites Martin Scorsese and Robert De Niro for the first time in 24-years will be hitting theaters on Nov. 1, 27 days before it’s available to stream. The film, which chronicles the disappearance of former Teamsters leader Jimmy Hoffa, is said to be Netflix’s potential big Oscar winner in the next awards season.

Before making its way to the small screens on Nov. 27, The Irishman will launch in Los Angeles and New York, serving as the Opening Night Film when it makes its world premiere at the New York Film Festival on Sept. 27.

Come November, The Irishman will be in independent theaters, though not any of the major ones—AMC and Cineplex affiliates as well as Regal and Cinemark theaters. The reason being that these chains find the four week period between theatrical release and streaming to be too short. Movies must maintain their standard three-month run on order for theaters to remain in business in the long run. Should an exception be made for Netflix this one time, other studios will be requesting the same exception be applied to them.

While The Irishman is said to be a top contender at the Oscar’s, its eligibility doesn’t come without controversy. Earlier this year, the DOJ had to get involved when the Academy attempted to make rules that would ban streaming services—Hulu and Amazon were included—from winning an Oscar. In a letter obtained by Variety, DOJ’s Antitrust Division wrote to Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences saying that banning streaming services “may raise antitrust concerns.”

The letter stated: “Accordingly, agreements among competitors to exclude new competitors can violate the antitrust laws when their purpose or effect is to impede competition by goods or services that consumers purchase and enjoy but which threaten the profits of incumbent firms.”

All the logistics aside, Netflix went on win four Academy Awards — Three for Roma (Cinematography, Foreign Language Film, and Director) and one for Period. End of Sentence (Documentary Short).

For The Irishman, Netflix plans on bringing the film not only to independent theaters across the U.S, but to bring the film to U.K. theaters on Nov. 8 as well. While there is no definitive number of theaters the film is going to show as yet, Deadline reports The Irishmen will be available in most major U.S. cities by the time it begins streaming on Netflix the day before Thanksgiving. Netflix also plan on promoting the film with traditional prints and advertising and expand the movie’s presence once it goes on Netflix.