Netflix has put much of its focus on original programming over the last few years. And while it’s not taking its foot off of that particular peddle, the streaming service is also bringing back a number of classic films that haven’t been available for a while.
Netflix has announced plans to stream a collection of classic movies in an assemblage called Milestone Movies: The Anniversary Collection. First up are films from 1974. Those will be followed in April, July and October by groups of films from 1984, 1994 and 2004, respectively.
The first batch of titles includes Blazing Saddles, Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore, The Conversation, California Split, Death Wish, Chinatown, and The Lords of Flatbush.
The service did not announce which films from future years would be streaming.
“When the life of a movie hits a milestone, that’s also something to celebrate,” the company said in a statement. “Maybe it evokes seeing a film for the first time — in the year it was released, or discovering something decades later. Or the anniversary reminds you to watch a movie you haven’t seen yet. And after that, perhaps it inspires you to find something else like it (from the same filmmaker, actor, genre) to stream next.”
While many of the films in this new collection have been available on other streaming services, they weren’t necessarily ones that are commonly subscribed to. (The Criterion Channel, for instance, is loaded with classic films, but isn’t the first streaming service many people think of.)
For Netflix, it’s a chance to dive deeper, as most of the films it offers to subscribers were made within the past 25 years. And interest in classic films has spiked in the past six months, as Hollywood directors shone a light on feared cuts at Turner Classic Movies after layoffs from Warner CEO Davis Zaslav. Several top directors, including Steven Spielberg and Martin Scorsese, offered to work for free for the channel to ensure it remained a resource for film lovers.
