Netflix Drops 18 Classics in Two Years After Halving Its Library in Favor of Original Content

Netflix currently has just 31 movies from IMDB’s top 250 list, after the movie streaming service has nearly halved its library since 2012 in favor of producing more original content.

In 2014, Netflix boasted 49 movies from IMDB’s top 250 list. Two years later, Netflix have dropped 18 of cinema’s most popular titles.

The streaming service still shows classics such as Pulp Fiction, Forrest Gump, Back to the Future, and The Shining. Lost titles, however, include favorites such as Donnie Darko, The Good, The Bad and The Ugly, and Kill Bill Volume One.

“Licensing arrangements with outside TV and film distributors have a fixed term, and thus represent a recurring cost if you want to continue offering their content in your library,” explained TechCrunch reporter Darrell Etherington. “Original content is a one-and-done expense (though admittedly higher up-front), which then permanently continues to the breadth and size of your video catalog.”

Netflix originals and exclusives such as House of Cards, Stranger Things, Orange is the New Black, and Narcos have proved immensely popular among the service’s audience, prompting Netflix to focus more on original content, such as the upcoming Series of Unfortunate Events.

The full list of movies currently on Netflix that are included in IMDB’s top 250 list can be seen in full below:

1. Pulp Fiction
2. Forrest Gump
3. The Usual Suspects
4. Saving Private Ryan
5. Back to the Future
6. Gladiator
7. Sunset Boulevard
8. Cinema Paradiso
9. Django Unchained
10. The Shining
11. American Beauty
12. Reservoir Dogs
13. Braveheart
14. Amélie
15. To Kill a Mockingbird
16. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
17. Amadeus
18. The Hunt
19. Good Will Hunting
20. V for Vendetta
21. Trainspotting
22. No Country for Old Men
23. Into the Wild
24. There Will Be Blood
25. Spotlight
26. The Princess Bride
27. Zootopia
28. The Truman Show
29. Jaws
30. Ip Man
31. Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl

Charlie Nash is a reporter for Breitbart Tech. You can follow him on Twitter @MrNashington or like his page at Facebook.