$1.5 Billion !?
Relativity Media filed a complaint against Netflix on October 18th, 2016 in Santa Clara, California for breach of contract and trade libel.
The lawsuit never mentions the figure $1.5 billion that was widely ceased upon, and instead, opts for – “amount to be proven at trial.”
However, FilmTake and almost every news source cited the amount hurriedly.
The value is the maximum Relativity could receive in licensing fees from Netflix if they released 75 consecutive films that grossed over $200 million at the domestic box office – Relativity Media averages only $22 million per release.
Relativity Media Title Penalties
Based on the contract terms, Relativity Media probably owned Netflix tens of millions for missing titles release minimums. As early as 2014, Relativity owed Netflix a minimum of 12 films, and no more than 25 films, per year.
It appears Relativity only released 9 films in 2014 that would have qualified under the terms of the agreement. This figure worsened in 2015 with only 4 releases, and only 2 releases this year.
However, Netflix may have accepted content other than the films Relativity released in theaters.
The SVOD Film Licensing Series is the Industry’s Inside Source for What Global Streaming Services Pay for Films
