Christopher Nolan, one of Warner Bros.’ most important filmmakers, has come out strongly against the company’s decision to debut its films on HBO Max and in
“It’s a unilateral decision that the studio took. They didn’t even tell the people involved,” Nolan said. “You have these great filmmakers who worked with passion and diligence for years on projects that are intended to be feature films with fantastic movie stars. And they’ve all now been told that they’re a loss-leader for a fledgling streaming service.”
The company announced last week that its 2021 film slate, including the new “Matrix” movie, “Dune” and “In the Heights” would debut on its streaming service and in
“I’ve never seen everybody so upset about one particular decision,” Nolan said.
AMC Theaters chief Adam Aron condemned the move last week, but no in-house filmmaker has spoken out on the record until Nolan, one of the studio’s marquee names. Nolan has worked with Warner Bros. on every film since 2002’s “Insomnia” in a profitable and critically acclaimed run that’s included “The Dark Knight” trilogy, “Inception” and “Dunkirk.”
“It’s not right. And it’s not a good business decision," Nolan said. “It’s all a bit of a mess.”
The studio declined comment.
“Tenet,” his time-bending sci-fi thriller starring John David Washington, is not following suit and heading straight to HBO Max. It is being released on DVD, Blu-ray and digital on Dec. 15. Nolan said he’s “very glad” his film "isn’t caught up in the mess that they’ve made.”
“We will be accessible through Roku and Amazon Prime and iTunes and be everywhere all at once for people to enjoy,” Nolan added.
“Tenet” was the first and only major blockbuster to test the waters opening in
“That sends a very optimistic message about when
—
Follow AP Film Writer Lindsey Bahr on Twitter: www.twitter.com/ldbahr
Lindsey Bahr, The Associated Press