Doug Liman, the director of Road House, and actor Jake Gyllenhaal have made a bold statement over the lack of money they have received from the film’s enormous popularity. Liman has been vocal about the movie’s exclusive streaming distribution on Prime Video instead of its theatrical release on a number of occasions.
Liman threatened to boycott the film’s premiere because he was so incensed by its exclusive release on streaming services that he wrote a critical piece about it beforehand. Despite the fact that the filmmaker finally made it to that event, he has grown increasingly irate with the state of affairs over time—especially in light of the enormous number of Prime Video viewers the movie attracted.
In an interview with IndieWire to promote his latest film, The Instigators, on Apple TV+, Liman explained his thoughts on Road House’s streaming debut. Though the conditions of the Road House arrangement appear to have altered when the film went direct to streaming when Amazon acquired MGM, the filmmaker made it clear that he has no issues with streaming, especially since he is now marketing a movie set for a streaming service. He declared:
“To start with, I don’t mind streaming. We require streaming movies because not every film should be seen in a theater and because writers, directors, and performers have jobs to do. Thus, I’m a strong supporter of TV shows, streaming films, and theater films—we ought to have them all.
My concern with “Road House” is that, although we produced the film for MGM to screen in theaters, everyone received compensation in accordance with that assumption. Then Amazon turned it around on us, and no one was paid.”
Ignore the impact on the industry. ‘Road House’ was viewed by 50 million people; nonetheless, I, Jake Gyllenhaal, and [producer] Joel Silver received no compensation. That is incorrect.
For Amazon, Road House Was a Great Success
When Road House made its Prime Video debut, Amazon was eager to brag about how well it had done. In April of last year, the corporation declared that Road House had garnered 50 million views worldwide in its first few weeks, making it its “most-watched produced film debut ever on a worldwide basis.”
Due to the change in distribution method, Road House was not eligible for the additional bonuses that are often included with traditional theatrical releases, which are contingent on the film’s box office success.
Similar problems surfaced when Scarlett Johansson sued Disney, claiming that the film’s box office performance was severely hampered by the film’s streaming release of Black Widow amid the Covid epidemic.
In the end, the actress sued Disney, and the legal battle was a very public and ugly one. In the end, there was a resolution reached between the parties.
Regarding Liman’s concerns with Road House, it was previously stated that following Amazon’s acquisition of MGM, the creative teams involved were offered an option regarding the film’s distribution.
The picture could have been made for $60 million and given an exclusive theatrical release, or it could have been made for $85 million and only made available on streaming services. Liman has made it apparent that, in regards to his most recent film, he had no problems with Apple TV+, despite some disagreement over who made the final decision.
“From the start, Apple made it clear that their focus was on streaming. Our contracts were designed to account for streaming, and we were all compensated accordingly. There’s a concept known as a streaming buyout, and Apple has been transparent about this from the beginning.”
An announcement of a sequel was made back in May, spurred by the popularity of Road House on Prime Video. Gyllenhaal’s return has been announced, but it’s unclear if Liman will return to behind the camera work for them considering his connection with Amazon after the first movie’s premiere.
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