In regards to Joel Silver’s firing, for “verbal abuse”, as producer on the Jake Gyllenhaal-led remake of 1989 action film “Road House,” Variety has some interesting details about that …
First off, right before the SAG-AFTRA strike began on July 14th, the film was 99% completed. Silver’s sources denied the “verbal abuse” accusations that got him fired. Instead, they claim that he was penalized for raising concerns about Amazon wanting to use AI to finish “Road House” during the strike. When asked for comment, Amazon “strongly denied” the AI claim.
An insider also tells Variety that “Road House” is one of the highest-testing films of Liman’s career, the director behind “The Bourne Identity,” “Edge of Tomorrow,” “Swingers” and “Go.” I can somewhat confirm — a person who attended one of this summer’s test screenings of the film told me that it was “highly entertaining” and his audience was “really into it.”
In recent months, Silver is said to have allegedly been vehemently unhappy over the release strategy Amazon/MGM had for “Road House.” The film “will likely be released in early 2024 as a streaming title under Amazon’s MGM label”. Silver passionately pushed for a theatrical release.
Puck’s Matt Belloni is now reporting that Gyllenhaal’s reps, Liman and Silver “were so pissed that Amazon Studios chief Jen Salke refused to give “Road House” a theatrical release” that they decided to screen the film for Amazon’s Jeff Bezos:
They convinced Jeff Bezos to screen the film on his yacht, with the hope that Bezos would love it and push for theaters. Salke knew it was happening, and it didn’t change her mind, but an A+ effort.
The remake, directed by Doug Liman, sees Gyllenhaal playing a former UFC fighter who ends up working security in a shady Florida bar. It was supposed to be released this fall before Amazon/MGM pulled the plug on it. An early 2024 release on Prime Video is now the plan.
“Road House” stars Gyllenhaal, Daniela Melchior, Billy Magnussen, Jessica Williams, Darren Barnet, Arturo Castro, J.D. Pardo and … Conor McGregor?!
Criterion's December lineup has some great additions to the library, but the title that jumped out at me is Werner Herzog's "Grizzly Man," which officially joins the Collection on December 8.