‘Road House’ director Doug Liman is upset about not getting paid fairly for the movie’s streaming success.
‘Road House,’ starring Jake Gyllenhaal, was supposed to be shown in theaters by MGM. However, plans changed when Amazon bought MGM and decided to release the movie on their Prime Video. Liman shared his frustration with IndieWire while promoting his new movie ‘The Instigators.’ He said:
“My issue on ‘Road House’ is that we made the movie for MGM to be in theaters, everyone was paid as if it was going to be in theaters. Then Amazon switched it on us and nobody got compensated. Forget about the effect on the industry — 50 million people saw ‘Road House’ — I didn’t get a cent, Jake Gyllenhaal didn’t get a cent, [producer] Joel Silver didn’t get a cent. That’s wrong.”
Amazon reported that ‘Road House’ became their ‘most-watched produced film debut ever on a worldwide basis.’ The movie was viewed by 80 million people globally since its release on March 21. Liman claims he didn’t get any additional pay from the streaming success.
Liman Says He’s Okay With Streaming In General
Liman, Gyllenhaal, and Silver had to choose between making the movie for $60 million and releasing it in theaters or taking $85 million and releasing it only on streaming. They chose the $85 million streaming-only option. The details of their deal about extra pay are not clear.
Liman said he doesn’t have a problem with streaming in general and supports different ways of releasing movies, including streaming, TV series, and theaters. His main issue is that everyone involved in ‘Road House’ was paid as if it would be shown in theaters, but then Amazon switched to streaming, and nobody got extra money.
Jake Gyllenhaal also talked about the issue and confirmed that Amazon always planned to release the movie on streaming:
“I adore Doug’s tenacity, and I think he is advocating for filmmakers, and film in the cinema, and theatrical releases. But, I mean, Amazon was always clear that it was streaming. I just want as many people to see it as possible. And I think we’re living in a world that’s changing in how we see and watch movies, and how they’re made. What’s clear to me, and what I loved so much, was [Liman’s] deep love for this movie, and his pride at how much he cares for it, how good he feels it is, and how much people should see it.”
Liman compared this experience with his work on ‘The Instigators’ for Apple. He said they knew from the start that the movie was for streaming, and everyone was paid fairly for it. Apple used a system called a streaming buyout to make sure everyone was compensated properly.
Amazon announced in May that a sequel to ‘Road House’ is in development, and Gyllenhaal will return in his role. It is not known if Liman will be involved in the sequel.
