Doug Liman remains frustrated that 'Road House' will be released on streaming instead of in theaters

Last March, Amazon MGM Studios premiered the remake of Road House from the director Doug Liman and the actor Jake Gyllenhaalexclusively in Prime Video.

The studio's decision to skip a traditional theatrical release and instead go straight to streaming upset Liman. This is despite the fact that, according to the director, the film was initially conceived as a theatrical release for MGM. Those plans changed when MGM was bought by Amazon.

And the director remains frustrated by what happened.

During the promotion of his most recent film, The Instigators Apple Studios' Liman told IndieWire that his anger stems from not receiving adequate compensation for a streaming release:

“First of all, I don’t have a problem with streaming. We need movies to stream because we need writers to go to work, directors to go to work, actors to go to work, and not every movie should be in a theater. So I’m a big proponent of TV series, movies to stream, movies to play in theaters, we should have it all.

“My problem with ‘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 turned it against us and no one was compensated. Forget the effect on the industry: 50 million people watched 'Road House,' I didn't get a cent, Jake Gyllenhaal didn't get a cent, [el productor] Joel Silver didn't receive a single cent. That's wrong..”

According to information revealed by Amazon in April, Road House was watched by 50 million people worldwide during its first two weeks of availability on Prime Video, making it the studio’s most-watched debut film globally. By mid-May, the film had reached 80 million views.

Sources familiar with the negotiations said Liman, Gyllenhaal and producer Joel Silver were given a choice: make the film on a $60 million budget and release it theatrically or accept $85 million and release it only on streaming. They opted for the latter option, and it's unclear what the terms of the deal were regarding retroactive payments.

Gyllenhaal later confirmed to Total Film what the deal with Amazon was:

“I love Doug’s tenacity, and I think he’s championing filmmakers, and movies in theaters, and theatrical releases. But, I mean, Amazon was always clear that it would be for streaming. I just want as many people to see it as possible. And I think we live in a world that is changing the way we see and watch movies, and how they are made. What is clear to me, and what I loved so much, was the deep love of [Liman] for this film, and his pride in how much he cares about it, how good he thinks it is, and how much people should see it.”

In mid-May, Prime Video announced that it had given the green light to a sequel to Road Housewith Gyllenhaal returning. It is unknown if Liman will be involved.

Liman's experience with Apple by The Instigators was very different. This is what he told IndieWire:

“In Apple’s case, from the beginning, we said we were doing this for streaming, our contracts compensated for streaming, we all get compensated for streaming (there’s something called streaming buyout), so Apple has been transparent from the beginning.”

In the reimagining of the 1989 classic, Gyllenhaal plays Elwood Dalton, a former UFC fighter who takes a job as security at a Florida roadhouse bar, recruited by Frankie (Jessica Williams of Shrinking, Booksmart).

Liman directed the script for Anthony Bagarozzi (The Nice Guys) y Charles Mondry.