Netflix Says Cary Fukunaga’s Beasts of no Nation is a Huge Success

By Reuben Levine | Oct 28, 2015

Cary Fukunaga was working on his new film, Beasts of no Nation, before he signed on for True Detective. All of that hard work seems to be paying off, as the movie has proved to be a success for both himself and Netflix. Beasts of no Nation helped put Fukunaga in the spotlight perhaps even more than True Detective ever did, and now Netflix is saying that the deal has worked out in spades.

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According to an interview with Deadline, Netflix boss Ted Sarandos talked about their deal with Cary Fukunga and Beasts of no Nation. Netflix has an exclusively agreement on the film, though it has been playing in a limited amount of theaters. For those strictly interested in any True Detective connections to be found in the interview, there aren’t any.

According to Sarandos, Beasts of no Nation has been watched over three million times in the North America alone. Not too shabby.

Beasts of no Nation is about child soldiers, and that’s not really a subject that’s going to attract a great number of people. Not to a movie theater, anyway. Sarandos is frank about the film’s appeal:

"“Films of a certain budget, of a certain nature and certain topics. If it’s not a special-effects spectacular, there’s no place for it anymore in the global box office.”"

That’s a fair point. Movies chains are having to compete with streaming services more and more, and if Beasts of no Nation was a typical theater only experience, it’s likely that it would not be doing as well. Cary Fukunaga’s harrowing film deserves to be seen by as many people as possible, assuming those people can stomach the subject matter.

For fans of Cary Fukunaga’s work, the interview is a must-read. Maybe the success of it will help build his “brand.”

Next: Will Vince Vaughn balance comedy and drama going forward?

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