The fallout from the Warner Bros. HBO Max release strategy continues and it's showing no signs of getting any better. Damage control needs to be done but no one at WarnerMedia appears to know how to go about it and top industry players seem to be putting the blame on the studio for its total lack of transparency.
"The Hollywood Reporter" has looked into the matter extensively and public revolt against the plan and the studio seems to be heating up. According to "The Hollywood Reporter", WarnerMedia CEO Jason Kilar has been making a round of calls to the company's various creative partners, assuring them that everything will be smoothed over. The problem with his calls is that, once they're over, the offers being laid out on the table to those affected by the new deal are "woefully inadequate" and "adds insult to injury." Apparently what's being offered isn't particularly generous, with one agency source saying in response to Kilar's offers that "you don't know the definition of generous, dude."
The big misconception at play here is that blame is being put on the streaming service and this appears not to be the case. Filmmakers and stars understand that the pandemic has shifted things even further into the digital world and that this move was in play even before we heard of COVID-19. The future is clearly aiming at a streaming day-and-date or going without a theatrical release altogether but the players involved want a transparent deal that reflects this release strategy. "The Hollywood Reporter" points to a situation with Denzel Washington, whose new detective film The Little Things is to be released by Warner Bros. With a release date of January 29, 2021, the film is the first to test the HBO Max and theatrical experiment, and Washington was reportedly blindsided by the release strategy. The report goes on to say that, given the pandemic, Washington would've been open to the plan if it had been done in the same transparent fashion that was employed for Wonder Woman 1984. At the heart of the matter, those involved want to be in on what's going on and, from a financial standpoint, they want the appropriate deals to compensate them for changes in the release strategy.
This problem looms even more so with respect to James Wan's upcoming horror film, Malignant. Wan serves as a producer and director on the project and has a very rich deal that gives him 13 percent of first-dollar gross. That 13 percent goes up in the air when the theatrical release is compromised so Wan was likely not pleased when the exclusive theatrical window was dismissed. The $60 million film was also fully financed by the Chinese company Starlight Meda and they fully own the rights. This puts them in a similar spot as Legendary Pictures, which produced Dune as well as Godzilla vs. Kong. They put up serious money to finance these projects and now their return on investment is compromised by the new release strategy. Will this lead to lawsuits? According to "The Hollywood Reporter", Legendary and Starlight Media have declined to comment but I'm thinking that avenue is definitely on the table.
The more I hear about all of this, the more I relate to it less as a consumer. When this story first broke, I proclaimed a bit of excitement because all of these high-profile films would be available to watch at home upon release but, the more I hear about the frustration and the total lack of transparency, it makes me shift my allegiance to all those involved with making these films. I think it's easy to look at this as a situation where already rich people are complaining about money and backend deals but this is THEIR business and they have every right to earn what they feel is right and also be put in the loop for what a studio plans to do with projects they put their blood sweat and tears into. On top of this, you have other companies that forked over their money to get these films made and even they're not properly being included in deals that directly affect their bottom line. It's clear that Warner Bros. could've handled this a lot better and as the days go by, it's looking more and more likely that a change in course will take place to minimize some of the damage that has already taken place.
Where do YOU stand on the Warner Bros. HBO Max release strategy?