Netflix announces film release dates

Netflix revealed its latest rollout of star-studded new films Tuesday, with movies featuring Idris Elba, Adam Sandler and Michelle Yeoh topping its list of releases in the coming months.

The online streaming titan will debut "Beasts of No Nation" -- the story of a boy abducted from his family to serve as a child soldier in Africa -- on October 16.

Written by award-winning Cary Fukunaga and starring British Golden Globe winner Elba, the film will be released globally on Netflix, and in select US theaters.

"The Ridiculous Six," a comic western starring Sandler, Luke Wilson and Nick Nolte will hit Netflix on December 11 -- the first of four Sandler films to broadcast exclusively by the service.

Netflix was forced to defend the movie earlier this year after a group of Native American actors stormed off the set saying it used racially offensive stereotypes.

Yeoh takes up her role as Yu Shu-Lien in a "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" sequel.

"Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon: The Green Legend," will be available for streaming worldwide on Netflix in the first quarter of 2016, after a 2015 release was pushed back.

It will also hit theaters in China and IMAX cinemas elsewhere.

And Paul Reubens, who played the whacky children's TV character Pee-wee Herman in the late 1980s, is back in action in "Pee-wee's Big Holiday."

Produced by Judd Apatow and featuring Joe Manganiello, the movie will be available for streaming in March.

Netflix, which claims 62 million viewers in more than 50 countries, is the creator of original series such as "House of Cards" and "Orange is the New Black."

The company faces fierce competition from other online streamers Hulu and Amazon.
Source: AFP