At some point in the future, you could be watching Netflix movies and TV shows that were cut specifically for viewing on your mobile device.
Netflix will reportedly explore the possibility of re-cutting some of its original programming to optimize the content for viewing on devices like smartphones and tablets. According to The Verge, Netflix chief product officer Neil Hunt told reporters on Wednesday that the company plans to look into mobile-specific cuts of the movies and television shows produced by the popular streaming site.
Hunt told reporters that over the “next few years,” Netflix (NFLX) will explore creating master versions of its original series and films before making separate versions more easily viewed on smaller screens. “It’s not inconceivable that you could take a master [copy] and make a different cut for mobile,” Hunt said, according to The Verge.
It makes sense that Netflix would at least consider such a plan, considering that some filmed shots are more easily viewed on a larger screen (a television or computer) and the viewing experience is sometimes diminished when those shots are squeezed down onto the smaller screen of a phone or tablet.
Netflix’s original programming includes everything from popular TV series like the award-winning historical drama The Crown and the political thriller House of Cards to feature-length films, such as 2015’s Beasts of No Nation. The company is investing a lot of money in its original content, with plans to spend $6 billion to produce more than 1,000 hours of content this year alone. Netflix is also making a concerted push to increase its output of original feature films, having recently spent $90 million on the Will Smith sci-fi/fantasy film Bright.
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The company’s upcoming movie slate also includes the Brad Pitt war satire War Machine and a gangster drama from Martin Scorsese and Robert De Niro. Movies, in particular, often cost more than TV shows to produce (though, Netflix did spend a reported $130 million on The Crown), and their extensive visual effects tend to lose some of their dazzle when squished down onto a smaller screen.