WarnerMedia has been getting an earful from creatives such as Christopher Nolan, Patty Jenkins, and Denis Villeneuve all voicing their concerns about the company releasing their entire 2021 slate of films on HBO Max with a new day-and-date model that certainly will place the streaming service in direct competition with traditional theaters and their ability to earn box office dollars.
While there have been some defenders like director Steven Soderbergh, the latest filmmaker to give their two-cents on the situation is George Clooney, who recently spoke with the New York Times to promote his new Netflix sci-fi drama “The Midnight Sky.” Clooney told the outlet that while things are a little bit crazy at the moment that AT&T isn’t really a film company and is simply looking to gas-up their new streaming service. But George is also optimistic things will eventually work themselves out.
“It feels like a decision from AT&T [Warner Bros.’ parent company], which is not a film company. I mean, I was at Warner Bros. for 20 years and under contract with them — it was a real star-friendly studio,” Clooney said. “It feels like all they’re trying to do is get HBO Max going, because you’re not going to recoup on movies like ‘Dune‘ that are designed to make a billion. I always figured the windows were going to get tighter as we moved forward, but this is a little crazy. But I think it’s going to be fine. I really do.”
He continued with an optimistic outlook for a rebound of the theatrical experience, “People want to get out of their house — I got twins, man! And it’s still a great way to ask somebody out. Comedies are great in cinemas, scary movies are great in cinemas. So I don’t see it completely going away.”
There are already signs that Warner Bros. may eventually move “Dune” back to a traditional theatrical release in October if a recent rumor from Deadline is to be believed. As the studio may attempt to avoid a legal battle with Legendary, who put up 75% of the budgets for both “Dune” and “Godzilla vs Kong.”
READ MORE: Legendary Reportedly Wants To Prevent WB From Debuting ‘Godzilla’ & ‘Dune’ On HBO Max
We still need to see some official announcements from WarnerMedia if they’ll actually change back any of these releases to a traditional model or even end the new model post-pandemic as there had been signals from AT&T this could stick around in 2022 and beyond.