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Jake Gyllenhaal has seen his next film, Road House, mired in controversy, with the director vowing to boycott the release over its planned streaming-only release.
The film is a remake of a 1980s cult classic starring Patrick Swayze. as a bouncer in a New York bar James Dalton, who ends up working in a nightclub in a small town in Missouri.
As he tries to keep his gruesome past shrouded in mystery, he faces the most corrupt and violent part of his new territory.
On Wednesday, news broke that the new Road House will not be released in theaters, but will instead be released streaming-only on Amazon Prime on March 21.
In protest, its furious director Doug Liman wrote a Deadline guest column announcing that he will skip the release of his own film in March.
Jake Gyllenhaal has seen his upcoming film Road House mired in controversy after Amazon Prime decided to release it only on streaming.
In protest, its furious director Doug Liman wrote a guest column in Deadline announcing that he will skip the release of his own film in March.
“When Road House opens the SXSW film festival, I won’t be attending,” wrote Doug, whose filmography includes Swingers, The Bourne Identity and Mr. & Mrs. Smith.
“The movie is fantastic, maybe the best, and I’m sure it will bring the house down and possibly have audiences dancing in their seats during the closing credits,” the filmmaker wrote in Deadline. “But I won’t be there.”
He remembered: ‘When Amazon bought MGM, one of the few studios left making big commercial films for theatrical release (movies like Bond, Creed), they announced that they would invest a billion dollars in theatrical films, releasing at least 12 a year.”
Doug added: ‘They touted it as ‘the biggest commitment to movie theaters by an Internet company.’ I can tell you what they did to me and my movie, which is the opposite of what they promised when they acquired MGM.’
He stated that “the facts” were as follows: “I signed up to make a movie for MGM. Amazon bought MGM. Amazon said let’s make a great movie and see what happens. I made a great movie.”
Commenting that Amazon bosses themselves referred to his film as a “huge success”, he stated that the film did better than Mr. & Mrs. Smith or The Bourne Identity.
He also argued that the film, with its emphasis on martial arts and its starring role as Conor McGregor, had a built-in audience among the UFC’s “rabid and loyal” fan base.
‘What else could I have given to the studio? Turns out, nothing. Because, contrary to his public statements, Amazon has no interest in supporting cinemas,” the filmmaker wrote bitterly.
“When Road House opens the SXSW film festival, I won’t be attending,” wrote Doug, whose filmography includes Swingers, The Bourne Identity and Mr. & Mrs. Smith (pictured).
Jake stars in the Road House reboot amid a host of boldface names, including UFC icon Conor McGregor (left) and The White Lotus heartthrob Lukas Gage (right).
“Amazon asked me and the movie community to trust them and their public statements about supporting movie theaters, and then they turned around and are using Road House to sell plumbing fixtures.”
He noted that Road House’s “filmmakers and stars” don’t financially “share” in the film’s windfall if it does well on a streaming service, and added that Jake won’t be eligible for major awards despite his “career.” “. Better presentation.’
“If we don’t put blockbuster movies in movie theaters, there won’t be movie theaters in the future,” Doug insisted. ‘Without movie theaters, we will not have the commercial box office successes that are the locomotives that allow studios to bet on original films and new directors. Without movie theaters we won’t have movie stars.’
His view is that movie theaters survived the coronavirus lockdowns thanks to “brave filmmakers like Chris Nolan and Tom Cruise,” who “insisted that their films be shown in theaters and showed that audiences are still there.”
Referring to Amazon executives as “good people who are trying to do the best they can,” he wondered if they could be “victims of this too, forced to betray the artists they supported their entire careers” during their long careers. careers in film.
“The reality is that there may not be a human villain in this story; it may just be an Amazon computer algorithm,” Doug continued dryly.
‘Amazon will sell more toasters if it has more subscribers; You will have more subscribers if you don’t have to compete with movie theaters. A computer could come up with that elegant solution as easily as it could solve global warming by killing all humans.’
That same day, a fiery new poster for the image appeared, showing Jake in character revealing his sculpted torso.
The original film starred Patrick Swayze as New York City bar bouncer James Dalton, who ends up working at a nightclub in a small Missouri town.
As he tries to keep his gruesome past shrouded in mystery, he faces the most corrupt and violent part of his new territory.
Doug’s furious salvo at Deadline came just hours after Jake appeared in a steaming, flesh-flashing Instagram poster for Road House.
He sits relaxed in a chair with his Hawaiian shirt open, revealing a couple of bloody cuts on his abs and muscular chest.
Jake and Prime Video jointly released the eye-catching new poster on Instagram this Wednesday, with the caption: “Keep calm.” Trailer tomorrow.
‘Keep calm’ was a famous line from the original film, which gave way in 1989 to a disappointing response but has since acquired a devoted cult following.
Patrick’s co-stars included Sam Elliott as James Dalton’s mentor and Drugstore Cowboy actress Kelly Lynch as his love interest.
The soundtrack included original songs by Patrick, among classic recordings such as Roadhouse Blues by the Doors and Blue Monday by Fats Domino.
Acclaimed Broadway actor Ben Gazzara plays Brad Wesley, the infamous businessman who becomes the film’s villain.
The soundtrack included original songs by Patrick, among classic recordings such as Roadhouse Blues by the Doors and Blue Monday by Fats Domino.
Meanwhile, Jake stars in the remake amid a host of boldface names, including UFC icon Conor McGregor and The White Lotus heartthrob Lukas Gage.
The character of Jake, renamed Elwood Dalton for the remake, has a love interest played by The Suicide Squad star Daniela Melchior.
No Time To Die actor Billy Magnusson, heartthrob Travis Van Winkle and veteran Portuguese actor Joaquim de Almeida are also in the cast.
Patrick’s co-stars (left) included Sam Elliott as James Dalton’s mentor (right) and Drugstore Cowboy actress Kelly Lynch as his love interest (center).
“Keep calm” was a famous line from the original film, which gave way in 1989 to a disappointing response but has since acquired a devoted cult following.
Jake has a long-standing connection to the late Patrick Swayze, having worked with him on the beloved 2001 sci-fi thriller Donnie Darko.
“He was always very loving and charming to me,” Jake recalled on Good Morning America in 2022 after wrapping production on the new Road House.
“I take it very seriously in playing the role and there are some things I learn from it, but overall we made a completely new movie and I’m very excited about it.”
He acknowledged that remaking Road House was a formidable task, saying: “These are big shoes to fill, but Patrick was a friend when he was here.”
Patrick Swayze died at the age of 57 in 2009, less than two years after he was diagnosed with stage IV pancreatic cancer.