News Steven Soderbergh Defends Warner Bros. for HBO Max Move

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Speaking to Vanity Fair about his new HBO Max film Let Them All Talk, Soderbergh expressed some sympathy for both blindsided filmmakers and the studio itself.

“I think there’s obviously a lot of emotion flying around about these issues right now. But I’ve looked as closely at the economics of all this as I possibly can, given the access that I have. There are just certain economic realities that you cannot wish away,” Soderbergh said.
Earlier this month, Warner Bros. announced that expected 2021 blockbusters like Villeneuve’s Dune and a fourth Matrix film will premiere on HBO Max, simultaneously with their theatrical debuts. The news followed what had previously been considered a possible one-off situation in which Warner Bros. revealed plans to debut Wonder Woman 1984 in a similar fashion on Christmas Day. “These things have a shelf life,” Soderbergh said of the tentpole films. “They’re expensive. When they work, it’s because there’s timing involved. There’s a zeitgeist aspect to all of these things.”

Of the studio, he added, “I think they’re looking at a scenario in which they either lose some money, or another scenario in which they lose a fuck-ton of money. That’s the decision. You’ve got to look at the next 12 to 18 months if you’re a studio. The fact is, there is not a theatrical-exhibition business that’s worth investing in [unless it’s] operating at 100% capacity. Any other version of it, you’re throwing your money away.”
Speaking to VF, Soderbergh acknowledged there were some issues with how the HBO Max news was communicated. “But remember this: As soon as you call up the first representative of one of the actors or filmmakers to say, ‘Hey, we’re thinking about X,’ it’s all over town,” he said. “They were in this weird situation where they wanted to do this thing. But they knew if they called one person to tell them they were even thinking about it, cat’s out of the bag, and the narrative’s out of your control. It was a really unfortunate situation. I know from experience, people can wrap their minds around change. Surprises, they don’t like that so much. This was obviously a big surprise for a lot of people. That’s the short answer.”

 

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