We’ve already heard from a number of filmmakers about the recent WB/HBO Max move, where more than a dozen high-profile Warner Bros. films will be debuting on the same date in theaters and on HBO Max in 2021. However, it’s interesting to take into consideration what Judd Apatow thinks. Unlike some of the other directors discussing this paradigm shift, Apatow has experience releasing a film during the pandemic and forgoing the theatrical experience in hopes of streaming success. And perhaps a bit surprisingly, he’s definitely not a fan of what WarnerMedia is doing with its Warner Bros. films.
Speaking to Variety, Judd Apatow tackled the decision by WarnerMedia and how it might affect the future of the film industry. Again, this summer, Apatow made headlines when he and Universal agreed to release “The King of Staten Island” in June, on its original date, but only in select drive-in cinemas and on Premium VOD. This was one of the first films to largely forgo theaters and rely strictly on streaming revenue. But even with that decision being made, he doesn’t like what WB did to its filmmakers. Specifically, he doesn’t like how the studio made this decision without consulting the folks responsible for the projects.
Apatow said seeing the way everything played out, it “certainly made me appreciate Universal.”
“It’s somewhat shocking that a studio for their entire slate could call what appears to be nobody,” said the filmmaker. “It’s the type of disrespect that you hear about in the history of show business. But to do that to just every single person that you work with is really somewhat stunning.”
But it’s not just the “how” of the way the decision was made, the WB/HBO Max strategy creates a nightmare logistically, when it comes to contracts and pay structures.
“It creates a financial nightmare, because most people are paid residuals — they’re paid back-end points,” Apatow explained. “What they get out of it for years and years of hard work is usually based on the success of their films. And so now what does it mean to have a movie go straight to streaming? How do they decide what to pay you? Do you even have a contract that allows you to negotiate, or is it really just up to them at this point? It raises thousands of questions, which I’m sure are very complicated.”
These are questions we have yet to fully see the answers to. In the case of “Wonder Woman 1984,” we know that WB consulted Patty Jenkins and star Gal Gadot and negotiated payouts for their contracts before the decision was made. However, as we learned from Denis Villeneuve, who is directing “Dune,” the studio didn’t contact the filmmaker until after the decision was announced publicly. So, we don’t know what that means for his contract and residuals.
All that to say, Apatow isn’t anti-streaming, clearly, but he does appear to be anti-Warner Bros. and how it treats its collaborators. And that’s not a position a studio wants to be in, when you have high-profile filmmakers trashing your business ethics. Ouch.
