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Christopher Nolan Rips HBO Max as "Worst Streaming Service," Denounces Warner Bros.' Plan
To many insiders, WarnerMedia's blindsiding of talent and their reps with news that it would send 17 films directly to HBO Max in 2021 felt like an insult.
For many in the movie business — producers, directors, stars and their representatives — Dec. 3, 2020, is a day that will live in infamy.
"Some of our industry's biggest filmmakers and most important movie stars went to bed the night before thinking they were working for the greatest movie studio and woke up to find out they were working for the worst streaming service," filmmaker Christopher Nolan, whose relationship with Warners dates back to Insomnia in 2002, said in a statement to The Hollywood Reporter.
[...] According to a source, [Warner Bros. film studio chairman Toby] Emmerich tried to soothe In the Heights director Jon M. Chu by pointing out that the movie was still getting a "global theatrical release." But industry insiders say the studio is pretending that pirates won't pounce as soon as these films are streaming on HBO Max. As soon as one does, there's an "excellent version of the movie everywhere immediately," notes one industry veteran.
[...] Many think Legendary [Entertainment] will be the first to file a legal challenge. The company fired off a previous lawyer letter after Netflix offered something north of $225 million for the rights to Godzilla vs. Kong, which has seen its release date moved from March 2020 to November to May 2021. Though Legendary financed 75 percent of the movie, Warners had the power to block the sale and did. Legendary asked whether the studio would then give it a deal to stream the movie on HBO Max — and got no clear answer until its executives woke up one December morning to find that the movie was going day-and-date on the service without the benefit of a negotiation. Legendary's even more expensive picture, Dune, is getting the same treatment. The other companies that finance Warners movies, Village Roadshow and Bron, are also said to be aggrieved parties that might end up going to court.
Related: AT&T Exempts HBO Max From Data Caps but Still Limits Your Netflix Use
"Gone With the Wind" -- Gone from HBO Max
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday December 09 2020, @01:11AM
The parallels between this and what took place with Music over the last 20 years, are striking. Their business model is changing in fundamental ways. Streaming is the future. They are fighting it tooth and nail. Just like the Music industry did. And they will fail, and then adapt. Just like the music industry did.
The really painful part is that they have serious levels of money invested in the traditional way of distributing movies. And that money is locked to the old model. New movies and content can adapt to the new system and be profitable. But the current moves in the pipeline have financial models and funding based on the old model. Those involved are going to take a beating financially.
I love how they brought pirates into the discussion. Even though the impact from pirates has been proven time and again to be zero, or even positive overall. But, as they cling to the old model, they keep using the same arguments they always have. Proving they are dinosaurs.