(Photo via Gage Skidmore/Flickr (CC BY-SA 2.0 DEED), cropped from original version)
“Road House” director Doug Liman protests Amazon’s decision to stream his film through Prime Video by deciding not to attend the South by Southwest (SXSW) opening-night premiere. Liman penned a guest column with Deadline on Jan. 24, announcing his intention to boycott the festival in support of theatrical releases.
“Because contrary to their public statements, Amazon has no interest in supporting cinemas,” Liman said in the column. “Amazon asked me and the film community to trust them and their public statements about supporting cinemas, and then they turned around and are using ‘Road House’ to sell plumbing fixtures.”
On March 17, 2022, Amazon finalized its $8.5 billion purchase of MGM, according to Variety. Liman said he agreed to direct “Road House” for MGM, presuming his film would be released in theaters. Following Amazon’s purchase of the studio, oversight of Liman’s film changed hands, culminating in the announcement of its streaming release on Jan. 24.
In his column, Liman argues that disregarding theatrical screenings will deprive film lovers from meeting as a community. It will also keep actors, such as “Road House” lead Jake Gyllenhaal, from receiving proper recognition for their roles when it comes time for award season. Liman also said film executives are at risk.
“Box office revenues are the war chests that allow studios the resources to make movies,” Liman wrote. “It’s no surprise you see layoffs across the industry including at Amazon — without movies in theaters, there’s no revenue coming in.”
A similar controversy in 2021 involved Marvel’s film “Black Widow,” in which producer and actor Scarlett Johansson sued Disney. Disney released the film simultaneously to theaters and Disney⁺, grossing $218 million in its opening weekend, but significantly less soon after, according to BBC.
Johansson filed a complaint with the Los Angeles County Superior Court, which said she was promised a window of time before the film went from theaters to streaming, BBC reports. Disney settled the case with Johansson in October 2021, with details undisclosed.
Similar to Johannsson’s openness to working with Disney following her suit, Liman is still open to working with streaming-first studios.
“I’m not opposed to streaming movies,” Liman wrote. “I made one of Amazon’s first original movies for streaming, and during the pandemic sold a streaming movie to Warner Bros. I’m currently making ‘Instigators’ for Apple. But I am opposed to Amazon gutting MGM and its theatrical business, as I would have been had Jeff Bezos bought the Washington Post and then gutted its newsroom (he did the opposite).”
Despite his negative reaction to the decision to remove his film from theaters, Amazon’s film executives are good people reacting to the whims of corporate interests, Liman wrote.
“Maybe they are victims in this as well, forced to betray the artists they spent their careers supporting,” Liman said.
“Road House” will premiere at SXSW’s opening night on March 8. Also premiering is “The Fall Guy,” another action remake starring Ryan Gosling, and “Babes,” featuring Ilana Glazer.
For more information about “Road House,” SXSW and Texas film, keep reading SZNSMAG.com.
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