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WhenRoad Houseopens theSXSWfilm festival, I wont be attending.
But I will not be there.
But Amazon is hurting way more than just me and my film.
(L-R) Doug Liman, and Jake Gyllenhaal in ‘Road House’Getty/Amazon MGM Studios
If I dont speak up about Amazon, who will?
So here we go.
They touted it as the largest commitment to cinemas by an internet company.
Jake Gyllenhaal in “Roadhouse”Amazon MGM Studios
The facts: I signed up to make a theatrical motion picture for MGM.
Amazon said make a great film and we will see what happens.
I made a great film.
It tested higher thanBourne Identity, which spawned four sequels.
The action is ground-breaking.
And Jake Gyllenhaal gives a career-defining performance in a role he was born to play.
Audiences will want to seeUFC mega-star Conor McGregor take his debut swingat Jake on the big screen.
The reality is theres nothing quite so fun as a good bar fight.
What else could I have delivered to the studio?
Nothing, it turns out.
Because contrary to their public statements, Amazon has no interest in supporting cinemas.
Amazon will exclusively streamRoad Houseon Amazons Prime.
And they deprive Jake Gyllenhaal who gives a career-best performance the opportunity to be recognized come award season.
But the impact goes far beyond this one movie.
This could be industry shaping for decades to come.
If we dont put tentpole movies in movie theaters, there wont be movie theaters in the future.
Without movie theaters we wont have movie stars.
Film executives are also at risk.
Box office revenues are the war chests that allow studios the resources to make movies.
At the height of the pandemic there was a real possibility that movie theaters would not recover.
We got comfortable watching movies at home.
But then a remarkable thing happened when restrictions lifted.
We started going back to the movie theater.
The fact that we still have movie theaters after the global pandemic didnt happen by accident.
People love going to the movies, despite the convenience of streaming.
They are not mutually exclusive.
In fact, data shows that movies do better on streaming if they have been released theatrically first.
Im not opposed to streaming movies.
I like the Amazon film execs and believe they are good people who are trying to do their best.
They have a lifetime of experience making and releasing films in theaters.
We tried everything to convince them to putRoad Housein theaters they know all the arguments I presented here.
Maybe they are victims in this as well, forced to betray the artists they spent their careers supporting.
