Village Roadshow Entertainment, co-producer of The Matrix: Rebirth, has reportedly filed a lawsuit against Warner Bros., alleging that the parent company’s decision to release the new film on HBO Max and theaters at the same time was a breach of contract.
Village Roadshow Entertainment filed a lawsuit in Los Angeles Superior Court on Monday, saying AT&T-owned WarnerMedia moved the film’s release date to 2021 from 2022 to boost its HBO Max subscribers.
According to the plaintiffs, “Warner Bros.’ sole purpose in moving the release date of The Matrix forward was to use the blockbuster to drive much-needed HBO Max premium subscriber growth.
The company knew that this move would dent the film’s box office revenue and This choice was made while depriving Warner Bros. and its affiliates of any financial gain that would be enjoyed by them.”
At the end of 2020, Warner Bros. decided to bring all of its 2021 releases to theatrical and HBO Max streaming services simultaneously. This approach is necessary for the early stage of the epidemic when it has not been effectively controlled, and it is difficult for consumers to watch movies offline.
At the end of 2021, this practice of releasing new films online and offline at the same time will greatly reduce the box office revenue of theaters.
“The Matrix: The Matrix Reborn” was a disappointment at the box office, breaking through 100 million ($1.06) just 12 days after its release, but it cost a whopping $190 million.
Part of the reason for the poor box office is the simultaneous online and offline release strategy adopted by Warner Bros., and another part of the reason is that the age group of the film’s target audience is older than the age group who actually returned to theaters after the epidemic.
In a statement Monday, Warner Bros. said: “Village Roadshow Entertainment brought this lawsuit in an attempt to evade contractual commitments and avoid last week’s arbitration, which was sloppy. We have no doubt that the final outcome of this case will be in our favor.”
Village Roadshow Entertainment isn’t the first business to sue a movie studio over its same-day release strategy. In July last year, Scarlett Johansson filed a lawsuit against Disney, alleging that Disney breached her contract with the film “Black Widow” she starred in because it brought the film to theaters and its streaming platform Disney+ at the same time. Publish the film on. The two parties finally reached a settlement in September last year.