Christopher Nolan, out doing press for the home video release of “Tenet,” was asked about his home studio of Warner Bros. and their decision last week to drop their 2021 slate both in theaters and on HBO Max at the same time.
The move caught many off guard and Nolan, a filmmaker adamant about not just shooting on film but also traditional theatrical windows, is understandably not happy with the idea.
First up in a statement the other day (via Deadline) Nolan says: “Some of our industry’s biggest filmmakers and most important movie stars went to bed the night before thinking they were working for the greatest movie studio and woke up to find out they were working for the worst streaming service.”
ZING!. Nolan’s “Tenet” was the canary in the coal mine experiment during the pandemic, the movie releasing globally in August to a lackluster $360 million haul – around half (or less) what it would have gotten in pre-pandemic times – even with the mixed reviews. That disappointment spurred a fresh round of film delays into 2021 and others trying more bold experiments with theatrical windows like Warners has now done.
Nolan added that Warners was ‘dismantling’ an ideal distribution system between theaters and homes “as we speak. They don’t even understand what they’re losing. Their decision makes no economic sense and even the most casual Wall Street investor can see the difference between disruption and dysfunction.”
He tells ET Online at the press event that the 2021 film slate is meant to be out there for the widest possible audiences, and now: “they’re being used as a loss-leader for the streaming service — for the fledgling streaming service — without any consultation. So, there’s a lot of controversy. It’s very, very, very, very messy. A real bait and switch. Yeah, it’s sort of not how you treat filmmakers and stars and people who, these guys have given a lot for these projects. They deserved to be consulted and spoken to about what was going to happen to their work.”
Nolan adds that he believes the theatrical experience will return in the long-term: “I think all of the studios know that the movie theater experience will bounce back and be a very important part of the ecosystem long-term. What you have right now in our business is a lot of the use of the pandemic as an excuse for sort of grappling for short-term advantage. And it’s really unfortunate. It’s not the way to do business and it’s not the best thing for the health of our industry. But when the theaters are back and people are going back to the movies, when the vaccine has been rolled out and there’s an appropriate health response from the federal government, I’m very bullish on the long-term prospects of the industry. People love going to the movies and they’re going to get to go again.”
