Dune Director Slams Warner Bros Over HBO Max Release

He should be happy, it looks more like a tv series.

It's a bit different now vs 20 years ago when HD was just breaking out in people's homes. Get over the fact no one is paying 40+ bucks for tickets and popcorn

Denis is right about one thing, there is certainly no love for the cinema. Paying $20 to walk across sticky floors after paying another $20 for snacks, just to sit beside some stranger who keeps shining their phone screen in my eyes, because god forbid they go 15 mins without checking their Twitter. All just so I can watch a movie through some woman’s hair, while missing the most important scenes because I have to get up and pee. Take the money you saved this year on movie tickets and snacks, buy the biggest tv you can afford on Boxing Day. Then for the true experience, give me $40 and I’ll come over, poor coke on your floor, shine a light in your eye, talk through the whole movie, kick the back of your seat randomly, and skip the film ahead when you go to the bathroom. Who would want to watch a movie any other way?

I understand the rooted love for the cinema and how that's literally connected to their vision for the movie. I also get that Warner is a gigantic company...but it doesn't mean this is the "wrong" thing to do. It's as if these directors are living in another reality where they think people will be going back to the theaters anytime in the near future. Either that, or they have an alternative that they haven't offered to the public.

I'm not hating on directors for being passionate about their work, and I'm not trying to defend Warner either. It is just hard to empathize when you can't see the practical rationale behind their anger. Just break it down for us, because right now I can't find any great reason the movies shouldn't be released digitally.

I'm still waiting for one of these directors to give a suggestion about what they think should have been done. It's one thing if they don't like this decision but I have yet to see a director offer up a better solution. Would they rather release theatrically only and hope for the best? How about delaying the movie until that magical time we all decide it's safe to go to the movies again? Maybe one of these directors has a more creative and potentially more successful solution? To me WB made a bold decision that allows these movies to be successful and profitable. These are unpredictable times and business can't just wait around and hope for things to suddenly get better. At some point decisions need to be made in order for business to keep moving.

I don't see how giving moviegoers the option to stay at home is "a desperate attempt to grab the audience’s attention." They are literally just trying to stay in business and making sure we don't have to risk our lives to watch a dumb movie. These directors complaining are sounding super elitist like "you stupid plebs will never understand my masterpiece unless you watch it on a big screen." I can't imagine they will get a lot of support on this.

This is all true.

BUT... there is no theater business right now. How many people does he think are going to sit in a movie theater next week? A theater only release right now would pretty much guarantee a flop. It's easy for the artists to yell about the integrity of their art, but WB is running a business and there's no money to be made from theaters right now.