Warner Bros.â decision to release its entire 2021 slate of movies on HBO Max on the same day they came out in theaters was arguably one of the best things to happen that year (the first COVID vaccines are a close second), but that might only be the case for regular people who really wanted to see, say, Mortal Kombat but werenât necessarily willing to risk going out into the COVID-infested public just to see, say, Mortal Kombat. In fact, the deal was deeply frustrating to a lot of people in Hollywood with established relationships with Warner Bros., so much so that it drove Christopher Nolanâone of the only filmmakers with an actual blank check from WBâinto the waiting arms of Universal. Now, after pretty much immediately expressing its frustration over the deal, Legendary Entertainment has also ditched Warner Bros. for a new distribution partner.
According to Variety, Legendary is now teaming up with Sony Picture to release its films, explaining in a press release that both it and Sony share an âongoing commitment to theatrical distribution as a driver for other âdownstreamâ windows and the theatrical windowâs long-term value for films.â So yeah, that statement might as well have just said âweâre mad about the HBO Max thing so weâre dumping Warner Bros. for Sony.â
In 2021, the Legendary movies that Warner Bros. put on HBO Max (after WB supposedly giving the studio 30 whole minutes of notice) included Godzilla Vs. Kong and Dune, which were two of Warner Bros.â biggest hits that yearâeven with the streaming release. Interestingly, Variety says that this new Legendary/Sony deal does not impact âselect existing projectsâ between Legendary and Warner Bros., including Dune: Part Two, but it seems somewhat unlikely that weâll get many Dune sequels beyond that (to say nothing of the future of the Kong/Godzilla Monsterverse, which now seems a little shaky).
And now, with both Nolan and Legendary leaving Warner Bros., thatâs two seemingly crucial relationships that have been completely burned for the sake of boosting a streaming service that the current leadership at what is now Warner Bros. Discovery couldnât give less of a shit about. Itâs like cutting off your nose to spite your face, except you also cut off your ears and also youâre planning on dumping the whole face eventually as a tax write-off.