Directors Guild Criticizes Warner Bros. Over HBO Max Deal

It’s a lovely day, and prepare for more to come. Warner Bros.

Rebecca Rubin Film and Media ReporterWarner Bros. has announced release dates for three of its upcoming films: George Miller’s “Mad Max: Fury Road” prequel, titled “Furiosa”; an adaptation of the musical “The Color Purple”; and the family film “Coyote vs.

Over the past couple of weeks, since the announcement that WarnerMedia is releasing all of the 2021 WB films on HBO Max the same day as in theaters, it appears that almost every filmmaker that has publicly spoken about the move has disagreed with the idea of collapsing the theatrical window. And those that understand the decision are still upset that WarnerMedia didn’t warn filmmakers before the announcement.

Though the recent deal between Warner Bros. and HBO Max that sends the studio’s entire 2021 film lineup to the streaming service day-and-date with theaters doesn’t officially begin until January with “The Little Things,” many see “Wonder Woman 1984” as the test case for the new paradigm.

Todd Spangler NY Digital EditorThe news this week that HBO Max — finally — was coming to Roku devices was welcomed by millions of customers eager to stream the WarnerMedia service on their TVs and catch “Wonder Woman 1984” when it premieres on Christmas Day.But there’s a wrinkle for some Roku users who want to get HBO Max.Under its agreement with WarnerMedia, Roku is no longer selling the legacy standalone HBO channel through its Roku Channel store.

The deal ended a seven-month standoff between Roku and WarnerMedia, HBO Max’s parent company, insuring the streaming service would be available to Roku’s 46 million active accounts by Christmas Day, when “Wonder Woman 1984” is set to debut on the service.Roku opened at $346 per share on Thursday, easily topping its previous all-time high of $336.17, set earlier this month.

Todd Spangler NY Digital EditorWonder Woman and HBO Max are giving Roku a power-up on Wall Street.On Thursday, shares of Roku were up over 7% in early trading coming the day after the company announced a pact with AT&T’s WarnerMedia to add HBO Max to its streaming devices following months of haggling.Roku’s stock was up over $350 per share into new all-time highs.

Eli Countryman Warner Bros. drew attention in early December when it announced plans to simultaneously release all of its films in theaters and on HBO Max throughout 2021.The decision, affecting 17 major films from “The Matrix 4″ to “Dune,” highlights just how important streaming services have become in the past year.

Filmmakers have made their thoughts known. Theater chains have blasted the idea, already.

Denis Villeneuve, the director of the upcoming Dune remake, is not happy that Warner Bros. plans on releasing his movie on HBO Max on the same day as the theatrical release.

industry-shaking move to put its 2021 slate on HBO Max day-and-date with theaters.Villeneuve, in an op-ed written for Variety, said he only learned about the fate of his film by reading the news, and that he had agreed to push “Dune” back almost a year, from winter 2020 to October 2021. He says a movie of this scope can’t hope to be financially viable and will succumb to piracy.“With this decision, AT&T has hijacked one of the most respectable and important studios in film history.

Denis Villeneuve I learned in the news that Warner Bros. has decided to release “Dune” on HBO Max at the same time as our theatrical release, using prominent images from our movie to promote their streaming service.

EXCLUSIVE: CAA is the latest to blast WarnerMedia on its decision to place its entire 17-film slate on HBO Max at the same time the films are released in U.S. theaters in 2021.

Days after WarnerMedia’s Dec. 3 reveal that it would premiere its entire 2021 slate of 17 films — including tentpoles like Godzilla vs.

AT&T's WarnerMedia is "ahead ofplan" on its HBO Max streaming service, nearing 12.6 million activated users, and can use the decision to bring its 2021 film slate to the service and cinemas to "accelerate that further" to "penetrate the market faster," the telecom giant's CEO told an investor conference on Tuesday.

The fallout of the controversial move by WarnerMedia to push all of its 2021 WB films to HBO Max and in theaters on the same day is still being felt in Hollywood as the big picture of what this deal means continues to become more clear. Basically, it’s been a really rough week for WarnerMedia, as stars, filmmakers, and guilds have been just a few of the entities upset with this unprecedented move.

Also Read: Warner Bros to Release All 2021 Movies in Theaters and on HBO Max SimultaneouslyOn Thursday, WarnerMedia CEO Jason Kilar announced the decision to put all ’21 WB movies on HBO Max on their theatrical release date.

"Wonder Woman 1984" is slated to release in theaters and on HBO Max, and the studio recently announced that they will do the same for their entire theatrical slate through 2021. "Oh, I mean, disbelief. Especially the way in which they did.

Ellise Shafer editorThe Independent Cinema Alliance has expressed disappointment over Warner Bros.’ decision to release the rest of its 2021 film state simultaneously in theaters and on HBO Max.In a statement released Monday, the volunteer alliance called for a return to theatrical exclusivity, writing that releasing movies solely in theaters for a period of time is “what drives that value – not streaming.” ICA pointed out that with the COVID-19 vaccine set to be distributed soon, a