Netflix takes ‘News of the World’ international, US gets VOD after Christmas Day theatrical release

Paul Greengrass’s News of the World, starring two-time Academy Award winner Tom Hanks, is saddling up for Netflix in the international market in a deal that is currently being finalized.

In the US, Universal Pictures is still pushing through with a Christmas Day theatrical release but did announce that the film will be available to stream on demand just 17 days later. Those two announcements keep the film current for both the calendar year and extended eligibility release dates for awards season, including BAFTA.

News of the World is one of the few major films left on the theatrical landscape as every summer and winter tentpole has either vacated the year entirely or opted for a streaming debut, like Disney/Pixar’s Soul, which will premiere on Disney+, also on Christmas Day.

The film takes place five years after the end of the Civil War, where Captain Jefferson Kyle Kidd (Hanks), a veteran of three wars, now moves from town to town as a non-fiction storyteller, sharing the news of presidents and queens, glorious feuds, devastating catastrophes, and gripping adventures from the far reaches of the globe.

In the plains of Texas, he crosses paths with Johanna (Helena Zengel, System Crasher), a 10-year-old taken in by the Kiowa people six years earlier and raised as one of their own. Johanna, hostile to a world she’s never experienced, is being returned to her biological aunt and uncle against her will. 

News of the World is directed by Greengrass (the Bourne films, United 93) from his screenplay with Luke Davies (Lion), based on the National Book Award finalist and best-selling novel by Paulette Jiles. The film is produced by Gary Goetzman (Mamma Mia! franchise, Greyhound), Gail Mutrux (The Danish Girl, Donnie Brasco) and Gregory Goodman (22 July, 8 Mile). The executive producers are Steven Shareshian and Tore Schmidt. The film’s music is by eight-time Academy Award nominee James Newton Howard.