The Directors Guild of America (DGA) slammed Warner Bros. in a strongly worded letter, criticizing the At&t-owned entertainment company’s decision to release its entire 2021 movie slate in theaters and on HBO Max.
A letter signed by DGA national executive director Russell Hollander was sent to Warner Bros. CEO Ann Sarnoff demanding a meeting to address its issues with the decision, according to a report by The Hollywood Reporter.
The letter does not explicitly threaten any action but expresses the guild’s — which consists of 18,000 members — concerns about how films will be valued.
Earlier this month, WarnerMedia announced that each first-run film will air on the HBO Max streaming service for a month after release in theaters. The film giant also noted that the new “hybrid” release scheme is a response to the coronavirus, saying, “The hybrid model was created as a strategic response to the impact of the ongoing global pandemic.”
The company had announced this decision without any consultation with the Hollywood community, and industry observers have anticipated that the studio might face legal challenges asserting self-dealing.
The report added that it is rare for the DGA to take such aggressive action, and that the guild is the first — and so far only — of Hollywood’s unions to weigh in on WarnerMedia’s move.
But the DGA is not the only entity speaking out against WarnerMedia’s plan.
Warners’ Tenet director Christopher Nolan told The Hollywood Reporter that the studio’s move “makes no economic sense, and even the most casual Wall Street investor can see the difference between disruption and dysfunction.”
Major movie theater chains have also expressed their vexation with the move.
Adam Aron, the CEO of AMC Theatres — which operates 1,000 theaters globally — said that the decision will “sacrifice a considerable portion of the profitability of its movie studio division” in order to “subsidize its HBO Max startup.”
Cineworld, the company that owns the Regal Cinemas chain, stated, “We believe that at such a time WB will look to reach an agreement about the proper window and terms that will work for both sides.”
Some on Wall Street have also weighed in, suggesting that the same-day release-to-streaming plan could be the lead up to further talks with partners.
“Warner Bros. made this announcement unilaterally, without having negotiated with its exhibitor partners, we do not think it will play out as advertised,” read a note by analysts at financial services firm Wedbush. “We think the exhibitors will aggressively negotiate for far fewer films to be released day-and-date on HBO Max.”
Analysts at research firm MoffettNathanson also wrote a note regarding the matter, stating that “this decision will be a very costly one for everyone involved: AT&T, participants/rights holders, and theatrical exhibitors. It is hard to find any winners here.”
You can follow Alana Mastrangelo on Facebook and Twitter at @ARmastrangelo, on Parler at @alana, and on Instagram.
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