Doug Liman’s “Road House” reboot, which premieres on Amazon Prime on March 21, has turned into a battle between Liman and the streamer. It turns out there’s much more to this story than we first thought.
Variety’s Tatiana Siegel is reporting on the behind the scenes drama which involved private investigators, a disgruntled producer, a cameo from Ari Emanuel and Liman going scorched-earth.
It all culminated with Liman, vehemently unhappy over the release strategy, publishing an op-ed where he promising to boycott the film’s premiere at SXSW in March. However, Siegel’s sources are saying that Liman knew all along that “Road House” was going to be a streaming movie.
Sources familiar with the negotiations say the filmmakers and Gyllenhaal were given a choice: Make the film for $60 million and get a theatrical release or take $85 million and go streaming only. They opted for the latter.
“They all took the money,” says one knowledgeable source. Yikes.
I’ll be waiting for Liman’s response on this one, if there is any, but this is not what he led us to believe. All along, I was under the impression that Amazon scrapped an intended theatrical distribution and opted for a streaming debut. Siegel’s sources claim that not to be the case.
On August 2022, before the film was even shot, an Amazon press release clearly specified that “Road House” was an Amazon Prime Video movie. Apparently, Liman and producer Joel Silver both signed off on the press release, with Liman gushing, “I’m thrilled to put my own spin on the beloved ‘Road House’ legacy,” and Silver noting he was “so excited to bring this newly imagined version to audiences around the world.”
However, something changed after that. Many months later, after the film had already been shot, Silver started to push for a theatrical release and grew so combative that the studio threatened to cut ties with him. A few months later, Silver was fired from working on “Road House” for verbally abusing several staffers, including Amazon Studios and MGM marketing head Sue Kroll and Amazon film head Courtenay Valenti.
Then, when Amazon thought the storm was finally over, and Silver was no longer a thorn in their flesh, Liman all of a sudden started protesting the streaming debut as well. He publicly claimed that Amazon lied to him about the “Road House” rollout.
Someone’s not telling the truth here.
Liman has stated that he “tried everything to convince” Amazon to put “Road House” in theaters, he even asked them if he could sell “Road House” to another studio that would put it in theaters – they said no.
Last year, there was a report, via Puck’s Matt Belloni, 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.
This “Road House” remake sees Gyllenhaal playing a former UFC fighter who ends up working security in a shady Florida bar. Liman, who is known for “Edge of Tomorrow” and “The Bourne Identity,” has called “Road House” the best film of his career.
For once, Fincher walked into a movie wanting to keep things lean. Five, maybe six takes per setup. That was the plan. Then Tarantino heard about it and lost his mind.