Legendary Entertainment and Christopher Nolan Are Not Happy with WB's 2021 HBO Max Movie Release Plan

Legendary Entertainment is not happy about Warner Bros. releasing their films on HBO Max. As you probably heard, last week, Warner Bros. announced that they would be releasing their entire 2021 slate of films in theaters and on HBO Max. That includes Legendary’s Dune and Godzilla vs. Kong.

Well, Legendary financed a significant portion of those two films and they weren’t kept in the loop regarding WB’s new release plan. They pretty much found out what Warner Bros. was planning when the rest of us did, and as you might imagine, they were thrown for a loop and are looking to take steps to make things right.

According to Variety, “Legendary is hoping to first negotiate a more generous deal, but isn’t taking legal action off the table should the two companies fail to come to a compromise. One possibility is that Warner Bros. would buy the films outright from Legendary.”

It’s explained that no legal challenge has been filed yet, “but a suit could materialize early this week. It’s unclear what legal grounds Legendary would use to challenge the decision, though it would likely involve some breach of contract.”

This is why communication is the key to any successful relationship. All this drama could have been avoided had WB just been in communication with Legendary and talked about what they wanted to do. Did they not think Legendary would notice? Anyway, I’m sure they’ll figure it out.

Christopher Nolan slammed WB for its 2021 movie release plan telling ET Online:

“There’s such controversy around it, because they didn’t tell anyone. It’s very, very, very, very messy. A real bait and switch. Yeah, it’s sort of not how you treat filmmakers and stars and people who, these guys have given a lot for these projects. They deserved to be consulted and spoken to about what was going to happen to their work.”

“In 2021, they’ve got some of the top filmmakers in the world, they’ve got some of the biggest stars in the world who worked for years in some cases on these projects very close to their hearts that are meant to be big-screen experiences. They’re meant to be out there for the widest possible audiences… and now they’re being used as a loss-leader for the streaming service — for the fledgling streaming service — without any consultation.”

It’s crazy to me that Warner Bros. did talk with any of their filmmakers and the other production companies they’ve been working with on these films to get on the same page. It’s common courtesy! James Gunn reportedly isn’t happy about it either. THR said:

“WarnerMedia had to shovel tens of millions at Gal Gadot and the other key players because the company wants a third in the series. But that sets the bar high. Sources say even Suicide Squad director James Gunn, who is platform-agnostic, was not pleased when the studio followed its shocking announcement by floating a lackluster formula for compensating him and other profit participants in the film.”

What do you think about Warner Bros.’ plan to release its slate of 2021 films in theaters and on HBO Max simultaneously? For me, there are some that I will want to see in theaters and others that I’ll gladly watch at home. Dune and Godzilla vs. Kong are two that I want to see on the big screen!