Steven Spielberg has had a change of heart about Netflix.

The director, who once joined a coalition of Academy members who tried convince the Governor’s Board to enact permanent rule changes that would classify streaming films as television movies as opposed to theatrical releases, is now in a partnership with one of those streamers he tried to Oscar-block just two years ago.

Now, in a major coup for Netflix, Amblin Partners, the film and TV production studio led by the blockbuster director, announced a partnership with the streaming company that will include multiple new feature films per year for the service, according to the two companies. This is not just a post-pandemic after-effect; the extent of this deal could redefine for the foreseeable future how movies are consumed in Hollywood.

Spielberg directed some of the most beloved and successful films in history, including E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial, Jaws, Raiders of the Lost Ark and Jurassic Park. This partnership with Netflix is a whole new paradigm for the entertainment industry: one of the biggest names of Hollywood’s old guard is now working with a company that is directly responsible for movie audiences shifting from cinemas to living rooms.

Speaking of Jaws, don’t expect the director to revisit that property any time soon. According to a story in Deadline, “One area the director will not revisit is Jaws. Deadline heard recently that Universal broached the subject to reboot Spielberg’s breakout classic, with Spielberg producing, and the answer was a firm no.”

This deal only involves Amblin and does not affect the director’s Universal release schedule. The Netflix deal is specifically for Amblin Partners, a production company that is a distinct entity from Amblin Entertainment. Their official website sats “Amblin Partners is a film and television production company, led by Steven Spielberg, that develops and produces film using the Amblin Entertainment and DreamWorks Pictures banners and includes Amblin Television, a longtime leader in quality programming.” This deal is in addition to “the long-standing output pact the company has with Universal, which is theatrical in nature and was renewed in December 2020.”

That means some Amblin movies will still go to theaters through Universal and some will go to Netflix, but there’s no specific announcement saying what will go where. Netflix and Amblin did not say how long long the multi-year deal would be nor if Spielberg would direct any films that would land on Netflix. Financial details were also not disclosed, and despite this article name-dropping E.T., there was no announcement regarding Netflix getting the rights to Spielberg’s back catalog.

This deal arrives at the perfect time for Netflix, which while known for an array of streaming options, has not been able to compete with other services in terms of quality filmmaking. This deal indicates that Netflix may be looking to change that perception as its up-and-coming rivals, studio owners who have spent generations building goodwill with moviegoers, now make their own push into streaming.

For example, every Warner Bros. film being released in theaters this year is also being made available on HBO Max the same day. Disney is reworking its lucrative Marvel and Star Wars film franchises as TV series for the Disney+ app, which has helped it to jump to more than 100 million subscribers which is about half as many as Netflix, but an achievement that happened in a fraction of the time. Amazon also recently struck a deal to buy MGM’s library to improve its Prime Video catalog. 

One recent example of this theory at work was the Amblin co-produced and Aaron Sorkin-directed film The Trial of the Chicago 7 for Paramount Pictures, but when the Covid-19 pandemic shut down theaters, Netflix picked up the film for a reported $56 million price tag. It scored 89% on Rotten Tomatoes and was a best picture nominee at the Oscars. 

Spielberg has been more of a free agent lately; in the past few years, he has made movies for Warner Bros., 20th Century Studios, and Disney, so he has yet to yoke himself to one studio.

Spielberg, chairman of Amblin, said in a statement that “storytelling will forever be at the center of everything we do” and that when he started discussing a partnership with Ted Sarandos, Netflix co-CEO and chief content officer, “it was abundantly clear that we had an amazing opportunity to tell new stories together and reach audiences in new ways.”

“Steven is a creative visionary and leader and, like so many others around the world, my growing up was shaped by his memorable characters and stories that have been enduring, inspiring and awakening,” Sarandos said in a statement. “We cannot wait to get to work with the Amblin team and we are honored and thrilled to be part of this chapter of Steven’s cinematic history.”