Netflix To Screen ‘Leo’ In 150 Theaters Ahead Of The Film’s Streaming Release

Netflix will release Adam Sandler’s animated family feature Leo on November 21, but before it begins streaming, the film will screen in 150 U.S. locations on November 11 and 12.

This is an interesting marketing ploy by Netflix. According to Cartoon Brew’s research, 150 theaters is the largest number of locations in which a Netflix Original animated feature has ever screened. Netflix declined to confirm if that’s the case. What’s more, these showings will be free for theater audiences. Each theater will host two screenings, over the two-day window.

Interested viewers only need to visit this website where they can reserve up to five tickets, but be aware that most screenings are already sold out.

Adam Sandler headlines the film, which tells the story of a jaded 74-year-old lizard who has spent its life as a classroom pet. When Leo learns that he only has one year left to live, he decides to escape for one great adventure but instead finds himself caught up in the problems of the schoolchildren.

Leo features animation by Australia’s Animal Logic (The Lego Movie, DC League of Super-Pets), which was acquired by Netflix last year. It’s directed by Saturday Night Live writer Robert Smigel and directors Robert Marianetti, and David Wachtenheim, all long-time Sandler collaborators. Smigel, who is also the creator of Triumph the Insult Comic Dog, was a co-writer on Hotel Transylvania and Hotel Transylvania 2, with Marianetti and Wachtenheim as heads of story on the latter. All three worked on Saturday Night Live’s popular animated “TV Funhouse” segments in the late 1990s and early 2000s.

The screenplay was written by Smigel, Sandler, and Paul Sado. Sandler’s Happy Madison Productions produces.