Netflix Turns Its Attention to Films It Hopes Everyone Wants to See

The streaming service wants to be more than a place where big names bring passion projects studios have passed on. It’s now trying to make the kind of blockbusters normally seen in theaters.

Toward the end of “Red Notice,” Netflix’s flashiest and most expensive attempt to date at starting a film franchise, Ryan Reynolds descends into a cave to search for a bounty pilfered by Nazis. Adorned in khakis and a fedora, he whistles the theme to “Raiders of the Lost Ark” as he walks down the stairs. The director Rawson Thurber calls it “a tip of the cap to the greatest action-adventure film of all time.”

That homage to the “Indiana Jones” movies also serves as something of an indicator of Netflix’s film aspirations, which have evolved over the years as its subscriber base has grown to 214 million and filmmaker resistance to its streaming-first model has waned. The company has shifted its priorities from being the place where big-name filmmakers bring passion projects that the studios find too risky. (Think Alfonso Cuarón’s “Roma,” or Martin Scorsese’s “The Irishman.”) Now, the company is aiming straight for what the old-line studios do best: the PG-13, all-audience films that traditionally pack movie theaters, create a cultural moment and often transform into lucrative franchises.

In the next year, Netflix is releasing more than a handful of expensive, star-studded films intended to appeal to a wide audience, from filmmakers with a history of doing just that. Shawn Levy (“Night at the Museum”) is directing Mr. Reynolds in the time-travel film “The Adam Project.” Francis Lawrence, the director behind “The Hunger Games” franchise, will see his fantasy-adventure “Slumberland” with Jason Momoa debut on the service next year. And Joe and Anthony Russo, the brother directing team behind “The Avengers,” will unveil the espionage thriller “The Gray Man” starring Ryan Gosling and Chris Evans.