Warners to release entire 2021 slate to HBO Max

Good for them. If only the rest of the world was lucky enough to make what was expected had 2020 been a normal year.

 

https://www.etonline.com/christophe...s-to-warner-broshbo-max-deal-exclusive-157414


Christopher Nolan calls the WB/HBO Max release plan “very, very, very, very messy” and a “real bait & switch.” “

It’s sort of not how you treat filmmakers...They deserved to be consulted & spoken to about what was going to happen to their work.”

 

Well, from what I read, WW84 got a sweatheart deal to be released. Most of the complaints about the rest of the releasees is that the talent, producers , etc, were not consulted, or compenstated. the ones involved int WW deal got there residuals, cuts, etc taken care of.
Its basically MONEY.. There are percentages, contracts, etc. to every movie, and some are paid up front, and some are paid on the back end, and there pay depends on how well the movie does. It being shipped to a streamer cuts there money possiblity's.

 

I don't know, there still seems to be some personal pride as well as a general love for the cinema in play for the film makers. I mean, Jenkins and Gadot were paid ten million each, and still they hyped the HBO Max release by tweeting a standardized text, which sounded more defeated than enthusiastic, and even that included a plea to people to watch it in theaters where it is safe to do so.

Also, Nolan pushed for the release of Tenet when it was in his financial interest to push it back further.

And, of course, there might be solidarity with filmmakers involved, who aren't as well off as Nolan, Jenkins or Gadot. So I'm very happy that those creatives with power in the industry try to look out for theaters and less powerful filmmakers.

 

Warner need to be very careful with how they handle this Nolan situation. He's made nearly every one of his movies with them, but something like this might be enough to convince him to take his next project elsewhere.

 

The situation between Warner and Legendary also has the potential to change the industry. As Dan Murrell said in the video I posted earlier, if it gets to a lawsuit, a metric would have to be introduced on how to measure the success of a movie on streaming, and for that, they might have to start reporting streaming numbers the same as box office. If that were introduced for Warner and HBO Max, the Hollywood unions would go after Netflix, Disney+, Amazon, and all the other services to do the same and pay royalties to the producers, directors, writers, actors, etc..

 

I think they really should have done something like that as soon as they started releasing new movies to the streaming services. I would think it would be that hard to just set certain benchmarks, and if it gets so many views, then the people involved get so much money.

 

So, Chris Nolan, who has made most of his movies about how government looks out for The People, and how billionaires and mega-corporations are mostly good (or at the very least fairly neutral), is having a sad because a mega-corporation, in response to a plague epically mishandled by the government, is not treating his popcorn fluff quite as he wishes it were. And I am amused.

Maybe next time you'll be motivated to make a film that has at least some whiff of challenging socio-political commentary, eh, comrade? Because I don't see anyone asking for Tenet 2.

 

A) Why does he, in particular, need to make "a film that has at least some whiff of challenging socio-political commentary"? That should be ENTIRELY up to the filmmaker, not a response to "audience pressure" or "expectations".
B) I would happily watch a second Tenet film, having fully enjoyed the first one at a proper IMAX 15/70 scale venue.

 

It is, and he doesn't, but, until he chooses to do so, I'll go on mocking his poncy, overpaid, whining self.

 

I'm sure he'll lose sleep over it.

 

Nolan trying to force people into theaters in the middle of a pandemic helped put WB in this position, so he can really just fuck off. His head has been getting more and more firmly planted in his ass the last few years, so his opinion is about as legitimate as some director's fight against VHS/home media back in the day. This is the same guy who got it so drive ins couldn't even show Tennet unless a normal theater was showing it in a certain radius, he puts how he wants his shitty movie to be seen over peoples safetly, so I really don't give a fuck about his opinion, and I actually like that WB is pissing him off.

 

It's not just Nolan, James Gunn and the Dune are pissed, Legendary is threating to sue them, and the Directors Guild is threatening to boycott WB. Basically they have pissed off the entire rest of the entertainment industry with this movie. And I can't of can't blame, doing this without anybody else's input is kind of a shit movie, and is potentially screwing people out of millions of dollars. Call them greedy all you want, but I can completely understand being pissed at being screwed out of money that you were promised.
And having said that, I'm still going to watch all of these movies on HBOMax.

 

The complaints and lawsuits are certainly valid. I had simply assumed that WB had worked out these details privately with everyone involved before they made the announcement. The fact that they jumped into this without consulting anyone -- outside of the Wonder Woman folk -- and as quickly as Trump puts out a tweet is shocking.

 

Oh yeah, doing all of this without having discussions and surprising people/companies is shitty, I just think Nolan is personally being an ass about something he's partially responsible for with his little tantrum to get Tennet in theaters.

That said, it makes no sense to hold movies for another year, and a lot of the anger comes from a film snob perspective and not a business one (at least when it comes to angry actors/directors). I think its a thing that needed to have been done and should have been done, but WB seems to have gone about it pretty badly and will have to face the consequences of that.

 

It's not just a film snob thing with the directors and actors, it's the fact that they're being screwed out of millions of dollars. Most of these actors had back end deals potentially worth millions based on the box office, which is now going to be a fraction of it would have been. A bunch of the Dune actors even took less money in the beginning, because they worked out a deal for even bigger back end deals.
I really hope they can work something out with everyone, but I was really looking forward to being able to watch all of these movies at home.

 

It's an even worse look for Warner Bros. because they clearly thought about this and paid Gal Gadot and Patty Jenkins a hefty sum before the announcement. Why should they get special treatment while everyone else gets screwed out of their contractually owed dividends?

 

I guess I didn't think about that. I assumed that most of the people were just being snobby like to Nolan, I didn't think about back end deals and stuff like that. It seems really stupid of Warner Brothers to ignore that kind of thing, and could really sour their relationships with a lot of people. They can afford to not work with Nolan again, but they could be in trouble if a lot of people get really pissed at them.

 

Toy likeness deals. Tie-in merchandise.

I doubt paid appearances will be more. They can't go anywhere overseas.

 

I can certainly understand WB snubbing the Tom and Jerry movie, but they're pissing off some big names. They must have some plan, but it does seem short sighted.