Road House Remake Director Continues To Slam Amazon Prime Video
Doug Liman’s Road House remake premiered on Amazon Prime Video, but that wasn’t the original plan. The film was supposed to be a theatrical release, but the plug was pulled on that when MGM was acquired by Amazon. Liman recently spoke to IndieWire about his issues with the move, saying, “My issue on ‘Road House’ is that we made the movie for MGM to be in theaters, everyone was paid as if it was going to be in theaters, and then Amazon switched it on us and nobody got compensated.”
An Impossible Choice For An Artist
Doug Liman initially planned on boycotting the premier of his Road House remake at SXSW but ended up relenting and attending the event. It’s definitely understandable that Liman was upset, as he explained that he made the flick an event to see in theaters. However, after MGM was acquired, Liman and his production team were given a choice between a $60 million budget for a theatrical release and an $85 million budget for a streaming release.
Streaming Has Its Place
Reports say that the production team ended up taking the extra budget, but Doug Liman was clearly unhappy with how it all went down. While Liman still isn’t pleased with his experience releasing the Road House remake, he did note that he’s not opposed to streaming. Liman explained, “We need streaming movies cause, we need writers to go to work and directors to go to work and actors to go to work and not every movie should be in a movie theater.”
The Profit Issue
Liman definitely seems irked about the fact that the Road House remake wouldn’t be shown in theaters during earlier reports on the story, but his latest comments seem like new issues have cropped up with the financials of the film. It’s possible that some negotiations were made for Liman, stars Jake Gyllenhaal, and others involved in the film to get some additional money if the film did well in theaters. It’s also possible that the deal didn’t transfer over when the movie was sent to streaming, leaving them out in the cold for any potential backend profits.
Streaming Residuals Are Still A Problem
For now, Amazon has yet to comment on Liman’s comments regarding the financials of the Road House remake. In the meantime, Liman is refocused on marketing his new film The Instigators, which has a week-long theatrical run before it will hit Apple TV+ for subscribers. Liman had good things to say about this experience, saying, “In the case of Apple, right from the beginning, we said we’re making this for streaming, our contracts compensated streaming, we’re all compensated for it being on streaming.”
Amazon has definitely brought in some viewers for the Road House remake and it’s unclear if those streaming numbers are going to translate to money for the creative team behind the film. Based on what Liman says, it seems like they won’t be getting any money on the backend at all. As streaming becomes a more and more common way to make movies and TV shows, the question of streaming compensation has become a hot-button topic in the industry.
Working With Apple
In fact, one of the negotiating points during the SAG-AFTRA and WGA strikes of last summer were over streaming residuals, so there’s clearly a disconnect between creatives and the studios as to how these should be compensated. In any case, you can catch the Road House remake on Prime Video now and see Liman’s film The Instigators in theaters on August 2 and on Apple TV+ starting August 9. The film stars Matt Damon and Casey Affleck as unlikely partners teaming up for a heist.
Source: IndieWire