Leonardo DiCaprio Doubles Down on Movie Theaters over Streamers, Even if He’s Never Felt the Concession Sticker Shock

Movie theaters aren't dead, but they're definitely taking punches. Leonardo DiCaprio, of all people, is stepping in the ring for them. In a new chat with Deadline, he makes a pretty unapologetic case that some movies flat-out deserve the big screen, even if streaming is the easiest button on the remote.

Leo's case for the big screen

DiCaprio frames it like this: streaming is wildly convenient, but there's a category of film that really needs the room-darkening, seat-rumbling, stranger-gasping part of the experience. He even compares theaters to vinyl — the idea that some things are just better when they're tangible and shared. And for a guy reportedly worth around $300 million, he still sounds very much like an old-school theater guy.

"Is it becoming like collecting vinyl? Do we have to decide what categorizes the movies we'll wait for to see on a streamer and what categorizes the movies that are worthy enough to see in the theater? ... I think we're primates that feed off each other, and I just love going to the theater."

He's been beating this drum for a while, too. Back in 2019, he told Variety that streaming makes everything feel instant, and that the kind of filmmaking he loves is starting to feel like a throwback.

Where Netflix and Warner Bros. fit into this

Here's the complicated part. There's been a lot of industry chatter about big players reshuffling the deck again. One thread that keeps popping up: speculation about Netflix and Warner Bros. Discovery. Nothing official — think rumor mill, not press release — but the worry goes like this: Netflix has historically been a streaming-first outfit, with limited theatrical play largely when awards season demands it. If Netflix ever ended up steering Warner Bros., what happens to the biggest, loudest franchises?

The fear from theater die-hards is that day-one home releases could become the norm, even for the kinds of movies designed to shake a multiplex. People are already asking the what-ifs — could a future DC tentpole, a hypothetical Minecraft 2, or the next Lord of the Rings chapter bypass a proper theatrical run? And if that became the playbook, filmmakers who live for large-format spectacle — think Christopher Nolan or original-idea guys like Ryan Coogler — might just avoid that ecosystem entirely.

Another knock-on effect: the mid-budget, adult-aimed movies that theaters used to champion can get sidelined in a world where subscriber retention metrics rule the day. That's the broader anxiety DiCaprio is tapping into — not anti-streaming, just pro-theater when it counts.

Follow the money (and the Fincher of it all)

There's also a business angle to Leo's stance. He recently passed on a Netflix project that would have reunited him, in a way, with the "Once Upon a Time in Hollywood" universe. David Fincher is developing "The Adventures of Cliff Booth" — a spin-off centered on Brad Pitt's stuntman character — with a cast that includes Pitt, Timothy Olyphant, Scott Caan, Elizabeth Debicki, and Yahya Abdul-Mateen II.

DiCaprio told Deadline there were early talks, but he's not in it, and he thinks Fincher is exactly the right filmmaker to carry Cliff's next chapter:

"There were some talks about it early on. Ultimately, I cannot wait to see the Cliff Booth story, but I'm not in it. I think David Fincher's the perfect man for the job ... I think it's the next phase of Cliff Booth's life."

Behind the scenes, insiders say Netflix dangled $3 million for one day of work. DiCaprio's standard paycheck for a full role typically lands in the $20–25 million range, so you can see why he'd be choosy. It tracks with how he picks projects: if it's built for the big screen, he's in; if it feels like a fast-turn streaming play, not so much.

What Leo's been up to

• One Battle After Another (2025) — Bob Ferguson
• Killers of the Flower Moon (2023) — Ernest Burkhart
• Don't Look Up (2021) — Dr. Randall Mindy
• Once Upon a Time in Hollywood (2019) — Rick Dalton
• The Revenant (2015) — Hugh Glass

So, where does this land?

Streaming isn't going anywhere, and that's fine — it's incredibly useful. But DiCaprio's point is hard to argue with: some movies are engineered for the communal hit you only get in a theater. If the Netflix/WBD marriage ever actually happened, casual viewers might love the flexibility, but the communal movie habit could thin out even more. Worth asking: what do we lose if the first time you see a true big-screen movie is on your couch?