“They took the money”: why the Road House remake is not being released in theaters
The choice was between, 60 million dollars with a theatrical release or pocketing 85 million dollars by giving the chance to streaming.
Doug Liman dropped a bombshell with an open letter published on January 24, writing that he would boycott the presentation of the remake of Road House at the South by Southwest Festival. The director accused Amazon of not supporting cinema by refusing to release the film in theaters: “Amazon is hurting movies, and not just mine. If I don’t report them, who will?”
An article from Variety gives a different version of the story, which contradicts Doug Liman’s words. Amazon reportedly gave two options to Liman and Jake Gyllenhaal, the star of the film. Either the film was released in theaters with a budget of $60 million, or it was released on streaming with a budget of $85 million. “They all took the money.”says the source of Variety.
This new twist is a continuation of the chaotic gestation of the project, initially developed for MGM and for the cinema. This was without counting on the acquisition by Amazon, which acquired the studio for 8.5 billion dollars in March 2022. This event changed the course of the project Road House.
Doug Liman would therefore have signed for streaming, before lobbying internally for the film to benefit from theatrical distribution. Then to publicly attack Amazon. A speech that goes badly within the studio. “It’s a huge respect to everyone who worked hard on it.“says a person involved in the article Variety. “It’s a great, fun streaming movie.“.
Despite this drama, Road House should be one of Prime Video’s big hits of the year. It will be released on the platform on March 21 around the world. Trailer :
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