Warner Bros. Pictures better hope its day-and-date film release plans for HBO Max in 2021 is a success, because it’s going to cost them it would appear.
The announcement of the arrangement caught everyone by surprise, and was quickly met with a backlash from Hollywood and those involved in the films themselves.
One of the big reasons for said backlash is that various cast and crew rely on performance-based bonuses, basically contract stipulations that guarantee a potential share of the film’s profit.
Some forgo a potentially higher wage or salary in exchange for such an arrangement, or have other deals in place where box-office is a factor in how much they’re paid. Any film that debuts day-and-date on streaming will eat into any potential box-office and thus undermine chances of the compensation they were promised.
Now a new report in Bloomberg indicates the studio is working on deals for new payments to filmmakers and their crews on those films, based partly on HBO Max streaming fees.
Warners is reportedly in the process of altering deals with partners to “guarantee payment regardless of box-office sales and to increase the odds of performance-based bonuses.” The recently reported on deal being made for Legendary Entertainment’s “Godzilla vs. Kong” is reportedly at the heart of the negotiations.
Under the deal, HBO Max will pay Warner Bros. a “considerable” fee for the streaming movies for the planned 31-day window each, some of which would go to the production partners, filmmakers, casts and crews.
The deal also halves the amount in box office sales that a film would need to hit before partners begin earning bonuses, and takes into account theater closures, pushing the threshold lower if cinemas are shut.
It’s unclear at this time if all filmmakers and production companies involved will agree to the new deal. Warner. plans to release seventeen movies in 2021 via cinemas and the service, the most notablye being “Dune,” “The Matrix 4,” “Godzilla vs. Kong,” “The Conjuring 3,” the “Space Jam” sequel and “In the Heights”.
