Legendary director Christopher Nolan isn’t happy with Warner Bros. for releasing movies straight to streaming.
The Hollywood giant recently made the decision to release its 2021 film slate straight to HBO Max during the coronavirus pandemic because so many theaters are closed. (RELATED: David Hookstead Is The True King In The North When It Comes To College Football)
I got you something ✨nice✨ this year:
???? The biggest movie premieres
???? In theaters and on HBO Max the exact same day
???? Beginning December 25 with #WonderWoman1984#HBOMax #WBPictures https://t.co/BZgFFRrrg2 pic.twitter.com/J2KBdWd9Tf— HBO Max (@hbomax) December 3, 2020
Well, that didn’t sit well with Nolan. He released a statement to The Hollywood Reporter, and stated the following in part:
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…Warner Bros. had an incredible machine for getting a filmmaker’s work out everywhere, both in theaters and in the home, and they are dismantling it as we speak.
There’s nothing better than a bunch of rich people in Hollywood arguing with each other! I’m sure that’ll get people in Nebraska and Oklahoma fired up!
The reality of the situation is that Warner Bros. has to do whatever it thinks is best for the company, and that means doing whatever is best for the consumer.
Seeing as how we’re living during a global pandemic and movie theaters aren’t really open, Warner Bros has pulled the trigger on sending the 2021 slate to HBO Max.
Filmmakers might not like the decision at all. You know who most certainly will? Consumers who can know binge watch new movies with pizza and beer right from the comfort of their own couch.
If Nolan doesn’t understand the appeal of that scenario, then he’s not as smart as I thought he was.
Also, as long as he’s getting paid whatever he’s supposed to get paid, then why does he care? People are still going to watch his movies. If anything, more people will watch them because they’ll be so much more accessible!
I love the move, and I have a feeling a lot of other people will too. If Nolan wants to throw a fit, then that’s on him. I couldn’t be happier with Warner Bros. making this call.