2020 was filled with many surprises that, I think it’s safe to say, none of use expected. It was almost like a bus at high speed came to knock all of us down and we’re just now waking up with the new year approaching fast. So, what can we expect from this new year? Like this year, I believe that it is unknown…but one thing you won’t have to question is the HBO Max and Warner Bros. collaboration.
Warner Bros. announced that they will be releasing 17 new movies in 2021 which is very exciting. To prevent people from going out to movie theaters to watch these films, they partnered with HBO Max and will release new movies there the same day they hit theaters. This idea that you get to stay home and watch movies all for the subscription price of HBO Max is exciting for most viewers, but for filmmakers and production workers, it’s disappointing.
Denis Villeneuve, director of one of the movies releasing, Dune, says that this deal is a hijacking of the entire movie making industry and a disservice to those who work so hard to get their films on the big screens. Even Christopher Nolan, famous movie director who recently released the hit movie Tenet, has tons to say on the topic. He says that Warner Bros. and its parent company, AT&T, saw this deal with HBO Max as a way to promote the streaming service.
“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.”
Christopher Nolan
Since HBO Max was not doing as well as its competitors, they saw this as a way to gain subscribers and money while taking the theatrical side of the movie making industry for granted. There is a lot that goes into the film business that just putting it on a streaming site is taking away its appreciation for the craft.
There are many pros and cons to what seems like the new future of the movie industry, but what are your thoughts on it? Let us know down in the comments.
This article originally published on GREY Journal.
