Movieversalfilm Exclusive · UK cinema data · Thursday 29 October 2026
Netflix has nine films booked into UK cinemas between Friday 30 October and Friday 11 December, according to the Film Distributors’ Association’s release schedule. We checked each one against the date Netflix gives for it to start streaming. David Fincher’s The Further Mis-Adventures of Cliff Booth, with Brad Pitt, gets by far the longest gap, at 28 days. Two of the nine reach cinemas and Netflix on the very same day.
What We Found
- The source: The Film Distributors’ Association (FDA) publishes the UK and Ireland release schedule, which it says is updated weekly. On 29 October it listed Netflix as the distributor of nine films opening from 30 October to 11 December
- The streaming dates: Taken from Netflix’s own Tudum listings and film pages, checked the same day
- The longest wait: The Further Mis-Adventures of Cliff Booth: 28 days from its IMAX opening on 25 November to Netflix on 23 December
- No wait at all: Steps (20 November) and Jean-Michel Basquiat (11 December) open in cinemas on the day they stream
- UK availability: All nine are listed for selected UK cinemas on the dates below, then come to Netflix. Release dates can still change
Netflix’s Possible Love, from Lee Chang-dong, opened in UK cinemas last Friday. But the next six weeks are when its cinema plans are busiest.
The nine films, in order
- Gentle Monster, Friday 30 October: Marie Kreutzer’s drama with Léa Seydoux and Catherine Deneuve, shown with subtitles in fewer than 25 cinemas. On Netflix 18 November, 19 days later
- Avedon, Friday 6 November: Ron Howard’s documentary about the photographer Richard Avedon. On Netflix 11 November, 5 days later
- The Mosquito Bowl, Friday 13 November: Peter Berg’s Second World War drama about American college football stars who join the Marines, with Nicholas Galitzine and Bill Skarsgård. Listed for 25+ cinemas. On Netflix 25 November, 12 days later
- Steps, Friday 20 November: An animated comedy about Cinderella’s stepsisters, with the voices of Ali Wong, Amanda Seyfried, Daniel Radcliffe and Bette Midler. Fewer than 25 cinemas. On Netflix the same day
- The Further Mis-Adventures of Cliff Booth, Wednesday 25 November: David Fincher directs Brad Pitt, in IMAX only. Listed for 25+ sites. On Netflix 23 December, 28 days later
- 14th, Friday 27 November: Ava DuVernay’s documentary about the 14th Amendment to the US Constitution. Fewer than 25 cinemas. On Netflix 4 December, 7 days later
- In Waves, Friday 27 November: Phuong Mai Nguyen’s animated surf romance, with the voices of Will Sharpe and Stephanie Hsu. Fewer than 25 cinemas. On Netflix 11 December, 14 days later
- Ray Gunn, Friday 4 December: Brad Bird’s animated science fiction detective story, with Sam Rockwell and Scarlett Johansson. On Netflix 18 December, 14 days later
- Jean-Michel Basquiat, Friday 11 December: A documentary about the artist from Quinn Whitney Wilson and Viridiana Lieberman. Fewer than 25 cinemas. On Netflix the same day
Cliff Booth gets the big screen to itself
Netflix says Cliff Booth will play an exclusive two-week run in IMAX cinemas around the world from 25 November, before it arrives on Netflix on 23 December. It is the only one of the nine that the FDA lists in IMAX. If the run lasts the two weeks Netflix describes, there will be roughly a fortnight between the last IMAX shows and the film landing on Netflix. Fincher’s film, written by Quentin Tarantino, has had plenty of attention already, including the news that Fincher cut 60 pages from Tarantino’s script.
The 28-day gap is the longest of the nine by more than a week. Next come Gentle Monster at 19 days, then In Waves and Ray Gunn at 14.
UK audiences wait longer for The Mosquito Bowl
Netflix’s Tudum page says The Mosquito Bowl opens in selected US cinemas on 30 October. Its UK website gives the UK cinema date as 13 November, two weeks later, while the Netflix date stays at 25 November. So UK viewers get 12 days to see it on a big screen before it streams. In the US, the gap is 26 days.
Smaller rooms than Frankenstein
The FDA groups bookings into bands: fewer than 25 locations, 25+, 100+ and 300+. Last year it listed Guillermo del Toro’s Frankenstein at 100+ UK locations when it opened on 17 October 2025, three weeks before it came to Netflix on 7 November.
None of this winter’s nine is listed above 25+. Five are in the smallest band, fewer than 25. The Mosquito Bowl and Cliff Booth are at 25+. Avedon and Ray Gunn don’t have a figure yet.
It isn’t a sudden rush, either. The FDA’s month-by-month schedule listed 12 Netflix titles for October to December 2025. With Possible Love, The Disciple and Gentle Monster counted for this October, the same three months of 2026 currently stand at 11.
How to read these numbers
- Dates can move: The FDA says future dates are subject to change. We checked its schedule and Netflix’s listings on 29 October 2026
- “Locations” are bands, not exact counts: They give a rough idea of how many sites a film is booked into, and the FDA updates its schedule every week
- Counting the gap: We counted days from the first UK cinema date to the Netflix date Netflix gives for each film
- Selected cinemas: None of these is a wide release. Check your local cinema’s listings before you travel
Movieversalfilm Takeaway
Netflix’s UK cinema winter is wide in range but small in scale. Nine films, from a Cinderella cartoon to a Basquiat documentary, will play on British screens before Christmas. Most get a week or two in a handful of cinemas, and two get no head start at all. The exception is Cliff Booth. Four weeks before it streams, in IMAX only, is the clearest sign of which of these films Netflix most wants people to see in a cinema.
Will you catch any of these on a big screen first, or wait for Netflix? Tell us below.