Colin Farrell tried his best, but he could not get a cigar in The Penguin’s hand on the set of “The Batman”.
07.02.2022 - 21:07 / deadline.com
Warner Bros, which managed to evade litigation in 2021 despite a hail of protests over parent WarnerMedia’s aggressive tactics with streaming service HBO Max, has been hit with a lawsuit by key supplier Village Roadshow.
The production entity sued the studio in Los Angeles Superior Court today, alleging breach of contract. The Matrix Resurrections came out in December and has limped toward the $200 million mark at the worldwide box office. Village Roadshow contends that WarnerMedia hobbled the film’s commercial prospects by favoring streaming.
Legendary Entertainment likewise made rumblings last year about Dune and Godzilla vs. Kong, as did many other filmmakers and production partners behind 2021 releases. Ultimately, none brought a legal claim, in part because the company spend in the range of $200 million to compensate dozens of partners for foregone box office revenues.
With Covid altering the landscape and shuttering theaters for months in 2020, media companies already engaged in a battle to close the gap with Netflix made a number of dramatic moves. While other companies proceeded in more of a case-by-case fashion, Warner Bros embarked on what was known internally as Project Popcorn, an effort to put all 17 of its 2021 releases on HBO Max at the same time they hit theaters.
The move, unveiled at the tail end of 2020, was decried by filmmakers like Christopher Nolan, major agency chiefs and others. Soon, though, the uproar died down and the company has indicated it will make decisions on individual releases, rather than the entire slate, in 2022.
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Colin Farrell tried his best, but he could not get a cigar in The Penguin’s hand on the set of “The Batman”.
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Gene Maddaus Senior Media WriterWarner Bros. argues in new court filings that it never agreed to an exclusively theatrical release for “The Matrix Resurrections,” and that Village Roadshow still owes $112.5 million in production expenses on the project.The studio is responding to a lawsuit filed last week, in which Village Roadshow alleged that Warner Bros. had breached its co-financing agreement by releasing the film simultaneously on HBO Max.
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With The Batman’s release swiftly approaching, Warner Bros. has unveiled new footage from its other upcoming DC superhero films, including Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom, Black Adam and The Flash.
Ethan Shanfeld New footage of DC’s “Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom,” “Black Adam” and “The Flash” has been revealed in a new clip posted to social media.While the video teases only a brief look at Jason Momoa standing above a valley and sitting on Aquaman’s throne, it serves as the first official footage from the long-awaited sequel. Also starring Amber Heard as Mera and Willem Dafoe as Nuidis Vulko, “Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom” premieres in theaters on Dec. 16.
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investigation that concluded the former reality television star fondled them.U.S. District Judge Timothy L.
The Matrix Resurrections‘ production company Village Roadshow is suing Warner Bros. over the hybrid release of the film.Lana Wachowski’s long-awaited sequel was released in both cinemas and on streaming service HBO Max, as with all of Warner Bros’ other 2021 titles.However, Village Roadshow have now claimed the decision “destroyed any box office chances”, according to The Guardian.“WB’s strategy not only ensured that The Matrix Resurrections would be a bust at the box office, but it also inflicted serious harm to the entire Matrix franchise,” the Village Roadshow lawsuit claims.“There can be no doubt that the abysmal theatrical box office sales figures from The Matrix Resurrections dilute the value of this tent pole franchise as a film’s lack of profitability generally prevents studios from investing in additional sequels and derivative films in the near term.”The film made $37million at the US box office and $153million worldwide, though the budget was around $190million.
reported was filed at the Los Angeles Superior Court Monday. In fact, Warner Media ordered its entire 2021 roster to be released on their sister platform HBO Max, while moving up the release date for “The Matrix Resurrections” from its originally scheduled 2022 premiere to December 2021, attorneys for Village Roadshow claimed in the filing.“WB’s sole purpose in moving the release date of ‘The Matrix Resurrections’ forward was to create a desperately needed wave of year-end HBO Max premium subscriptions from what it knew would be a blockbuster film, despite knowing full well that it would decimate the film’s box office revenue and deprive Village Roadshow of any economic upside that WB and its affiliates would enjoy,” the suit stated.Village Roadshow also claims to be the victim of “rampant piracy” facilitated by the streaming release, adding that Warner Bros.