Doug Liman’s “Road House” reboot, starring Jake Gyllenhaal, which premieres on Amazon Prime on March 21, has turned into a battle between Liman and the streamer.
There’s been a lot of 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, later sources clarified that Liman knew all along that “Road House” was going to be a streaming movie, giving him the option of making the film for $60 million with a theatrical release or take $85 million and go streaming only. He opted for the latter.
Liman hasn’t yet responded to this new claim, but this is not what he led us to believe. Someone’s not telling the truth here, and it’s looking more and more like it might be Liman.
Gyllenhaal has now responded and he is going against Liman’s side of the story. In a new TotalFilm interview, Gyllenhaal blow up Liman’s argument, emphasizing that Amazon always had a clear intention to release the film 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,” Gyllenhaal told the outlet.
I’m not really sure what Liman’s game plan was in deriving a campaign against Amazon, but it’s not a good look, and other studios are taking notes of his behavior. I completely get his insistence in wanting a theatrical release, he seems very proud of the film, but if it was always a contractual intention for this to be a streaming film then he has no reason to complain.
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.“
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