There was once a time when movies were Netflix’s whole business. The company started its life in 1997 as a DVD-by-mail service, and didn’t begin streaming video until a decade later in 2007. Things have changed quite a bit in the 19 years since the company launched; DVDs are mostly a memory now, and Netflix hasn’t offered video via any method besides streaming since 2023, when it finally shut down its disc rental service for good.

These days, Netflix offers a huge range of content, from original scripted and unscripted TV shows to live NFL games and boxing matches. But a new report shows that Netflix is starting to pull back drastically on the number of original movies it releases, and its recent increased focus on live sports is a likely culprit for the decline.

The French newsletter Netflix & Chiffres has compiled data to show that in the first quarter of 2026, Netflix released just 23 original films — the lowest number since 2017. The streamer’s Q1 original films peaked at 50 in 2022, and have declined each year since: 39 in 2023, 35 in 2024, and 34 in 2025.

Netflix said in its January earnings report that it plans to spend around $20 billion on content in the coming year, up from $18 billion in 2025. The streamer also recently announced price increases on all plans to keep the revenue flowing into its coffers, so the pullback on original movies clearly doesn’t reflect a company-wide retreat on content spending. To that point, releases of Netflix series have remained unaffected even as its movie premieres have declined.

If that’s the case, then why is Netflix retreating on original films? It’s not a popularity issue; its biggest movie of 2025 “KPop Demon Hunters” racked up 482 million views between July and December 2025 — nearly four times as many as Season 2 of “Wednesday,” the most-watched TV series on Netflix during that time span. It’s fair to point out that “KPop Demon Hunters” was available to Netflix subscribers for more of the period in question than “Wednesday,” but even with the eye-popping viewership totals for the top film excluded from the calculations, Netflix’s remaining top 10 movies from the second half of 2025 averaged more viewers than the streamer’s top 10 TV shows did.

While Netflix execs will likely never publicly confirm this, the company’s increased focus on live events is the most likely culprit for the decline in movie releases. In the last two years, Netflix has made a huge push to add more live events to its platform — particularly live sports and sports entertainment. The streamer now hosts live, weekly episodes of “WWE Monday Night Raw,” a doubleheader of NFL games on Christmas Day, a small package of MLB events — including Opening Day and the Home Run Derby — and a growing number of high-profile combat sports events. The streamer even wants more NFL games, and will be keeping an eye out for additional opportunities to “eventize” live sports broadcasts.

Even if sports were the only live events Netflix was adding to its lineup, that could explain why the streamer is releasing noticeably fewer original movies. Recent data from Ampere shows that Netflix will spend more than $700 million on live sports in 2026, and it could rise far higher if the streamer realizes its goal of doubling the size of its NFL package.

But sports aren’t the only live events Netflix is offering. Thus far in 2026, the streamer has provided live access to Alex Honnold’s free climb of the Taipei 101 skyscraper, the lunar flyby of the Artemis II mission, as well as BTS’s comeback concert, and more. Providing this much live content to subscribers requires quite a bit of bandwidth, financial and otherwise.

Nearly every time Netflix hosts a major live event, it trots out gaudy ratings data to prove that the event was a success. But even if its ratings can be taken at face value, providing such a large (and growing) slate of live content is clearly costing the streamer big money.

Fans should continue to keep an eye on the number of original films Netflix releases over the next couple of years. It could just be that the streamer is paring back and focusing on quality over quantity, but the timing is suspicious. If the number continues to decline, viewers need look no further than the increased number of sports and other live events eating up more and more of Netflix’s budget and attention.

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Netflix is a leading subscription-based video streaming service that offers on-demand access to an extensive library of over 3,000 movies, 2,000+ TV shows, and a growing collection of acclaimed Netflix originals. Renowned for producing groundbreaking content, Netflix has become a cultural powerhouse with hit originals like “Stranger Things,” “Wednesday,” “Squid Game,” “The Crown,” “Tiger King,” “Bridgerton,” “The Witcher,” and “Black Mirror.”

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The platform constantly updates its catalog, introducing fresh content alongside timeless classics and international hits. Netflix’s commitment to storytelling has also earned critical acclaim, with award-winning exclusives such as “Roma,” “Marriage Story,” “The Power of the Dog,” “Mank,” and “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom.” In 2023, their animated film “Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio” won an Academy Award for Best Animated Feature, further solidifying Netflix’s reputation for high-quality content.

Recently, Netflix has expanded beyond standard movies and TV titles with the addition of video podcasts, and is also exploring a digital store that would offer third-party streamers within the app.

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