Christopher Nolan may have thrown some sassy shade over the HBO Max announcement last week, but “Blade Runner 2049” and “Arrival” helmer Denis Villeneuve has tore Warner Bros. Pictures a new one in a new essay he has penned for Variety.
Talking about the decision which will see his mega-budget adaptation of “Dune” arriving in cinemas the same day it becomes available to stream on HBO Max for 31 days, Villeneuve doesn’t mince words and says: “there is absolutely no love for cinema, nor for the audience here. It is all about the survival of a telecom mammoth… AT&T decided to sacrifice Warner Bros.’ entire 2021 slate in a desperate attempt to grab the audience’s attention.”
He goes on to indicate he has no love for Warners anymore: “Warner Bros.’ sudden reversal from being a legacy home for filmmakers to the new era of complete disregard draws a clear line for me. Filmmaking is a collaboration, reliant on the mutual trust of team work and Warner Bros. has declared they are no longer on the same team.”
Then comes a worrying statement. As we know “Dune” is the first of a planned two part adaptation of Frank Herbert’s sci-fi classic. However with its mega-budget it was always going to be tough for it to make its money back in even the best circumstances.
Villeneuve was supportive of Warners’ earlier decision to shift “Dune” from December this year to October 2021 when it is expected vaccinations against COVID-19 will be widespread and the pandemic mostly gone or under control.
Now though, with the HBO Max announcement, he indicates he may not be back to fulfil his original plan: “Streaming can produce great content, but not movies of Dune’s scope and scale. Warner Bros. Pictures’ decision means ‘Dune’ won’t have the chance to perform financially in order to be viable and piracy will ultimately triumph. Warner Bros. might just have killed the ‘Dune’ franchise. This one is for the fans. AT&T’s John Stankey said that the streaming horse left the barn. In truth, the horse left the barn for the slaughterhouse.”
Head over to Variety for the full essay. More may happen on this front though as Legendary, which funded much of the $175 million film, may take legal action over this decision.