The aroma of a freshly brewed legal case is sensed in the air. You may love streaming platforms, but production studios don’t. At least not Legendary Entertainment, the studio behind two amazing movies: Godzilla vs. Kong and Dune. Reports tell us that Legendary Entertainment could be taking Warner Bros to challenge the company’s 2021 streaming release plan. Last week, Warner Bros. announced that it would release all of its 2021 movie projects in the streaming platform HBO Max and United States movie theaters. And this streaming plan is taken well in the movie industry.
Warner Bros.’s latest streaming decision has taken the whole industry by surprise. Among the films which are slated to release on dual platforms include Dune, Godzilla vs. Kong, The Suicide Squad, In the Heights, and more. They will hit the HBO Max platform for one whole month before its theatrical release in the United States and other international theaters. This is surely a landmark decision as it is taken for the whole of 2021 and not just for the current pandemic situation. It has sent shockwaves for the entire film industry.
It isn’t the first time Warner Bros. tried this dual release plan. The studio has previously applied the plan to Wonder Woman 1984. However, this time the decision was much larger in magnitude. This decision was to send the whole movie list available in the 2021 slate to streaming. Naturally, this decision raised concerns about how the already reeling movie theater industry will be affected in the long-run.
How the Warner Bros. Streaming Plan Will Affect Movie Industry?
The latest move by Warner Bros. is a testimony to the ill-fate the whole movie industry had for the entire year, all thanks to the ongoing coronavirus-pandemic. Almost all sectors of the industry are heavily affected due to the government-enforced lockdowns following the virus spread. Major film industries had only two options open to them: First, Push their movie releases back to 2021 or 2022, and second, to have a limited theatrical run and head to streaming as early as possible.
Theaters have struggled immensely as the pandemic progressed and grew in its stature. At a time when going out needs, a whole protocol to follow, going to theaters is obviously our last resort to entertainment. Bringing the audience to the theaters has been far from being easy. Moreover, the spread of cases has also caused the theaters to disrupt their operations significantly.
However, there is some positive news, as well. We expect COVID-19 vaccines to get released in the market soon, so the industry hopes of a much-needed revival by 2021. But then came the Warner Bros. latest streaming plan.
Also Read: DC and Marvel Movies to Release from 2020 to 2022 in Massive Number
This streaming decision has put the future of cinemas under question. Thus it was obvious for many major film studios to disagree with this latest plan by Warner Bros. AMC, which is the largest movie theater chain in the United States, has openly opposed the decision made by Warner Bros. Now the studio is at risk of facing legal action.
What can be the possible action of Legendary Entertainment?
According to Deadline, the studio behind Dune and Godzilla vs. Kong could be initiating a lawsuit against Warner Bros. against their latest streaming plan.
Read the comment from Deadline’s Mike Fleming Jr about this development:
“I’m hearing that Legendary Entertainment either has or will send legal letters to Warner Bros as soon as today, challenging the decision to put the Denis Villenueve-directed Dune into the HBO Max deal, and maybe Godzilla vs. Kong as well. On the latter, Legendary reportedly had Netflix ready to pull the film from Warner Bros for around $250 million, before WarnerMedia blocked it. Sources said Legendary had no advance notice before last week’s announcement that both Dune and Godzilla Vs. Kong were part of the HBO Max plan.”
