Did Netflix make the right move with Glass Onion?

By any metric, Netflix’s Knives Out sequel, Glass Onion, did fantastic at the box office this past week.

So well, in fact, the obvious question now is: Why the heck did Netflix put the movie in just ~700 theaters — and only for one week?

The numbers

Netflix grabbed the rights to Knives Out for $469m after the 2019 movie pulled in ~$165m domestically and ~$313m globally. That movie, which played in 3.4k+ theaters, notched a $41.4m Thanksgiving opening.

For Glass Onion, Netflix chose to put the movie in ~700 theaters for one week, and release it on Netflix on Dec. 23.

• In its five-day Thanksgiving opening, Glass Onion pulled in $13.3m+. In the same period, Disney’s Strange World earned $18.9m — across 4.1k+ theaters.

If I’m Netflix, here’s what I’m wondering: Would my users be upset if I made my movies available in theaters for longer? And is it OK to risk minimal subscriber churn if it means bringing in tens of millions of more dollars?