WarnerMedia's unprecedented decision to send Warner Bros. Pictures' entire 2021 movie slate to the HBO Max streaming service the same day they hit theatres sent shockwaves through the film industry, with many high-profile directors taking a negative view of the move.
The likes of Christopher Nolan (Tenet, Dunkirk) and Denis Villeneuve (Dune, Blade Runner 2049) have already made their feelings on the matter perfectly clear, and M. Night Shyamalan has now weighed in with his take.
Not too surprisingly, the Glass director is not on board with the deal, and takes particular issue with the fact that WB didn't give the director's a heads up before making the announcement.
“You only have to guess what my reaction is to that,” Shyamalan tells Fandom. “I don’t support it at all. At all. And especially without talking to the filmmakers. Ridiculous. [It’s] obviously corporate-driven and I feel bad for all my colleagues that found out that way and are dealing with it now."
“That’s not the answer," he continued. "That’s certainly not the answer, and I very much hope we will all be going back to the theaters soonish. Three months, four months, five months, whatever it is. And that both can co-exist; that we have high-end entertainment at home and we have high-end entertainment when we want to go out. There’s no need to cannibalize one for the other.”
It was recently reported that the studio cut new deals with the directors of the films set for day-and-date theatrical and streaming releases later this year, and, funnily enough, we haven't seen much backlash since.
Shyamalan has worked with WB in the past, but his next film, an adaptation of a French graphic novel Old, will be a Universal release.
About The Author:
Mark Cassidy is a writer, photographer, amateur filmmaker, and Rotten Tomatoes-approved critic from Dublin, Ireland.