Amazon Denies Road House Theatrical Block, Says Jake Gyllenhaal and Filmmakers Chose Streaming

The biggest noise came late last month with a January 24 open letter penned by director Doug Liman. In it, he blasted Amazon for going back on their stated commitment to theatrical releases after they acquired MGM (the studio behind Road House) by shunting his film to streaming.

But, according to a new report by Variety, that's not how it happened at all. Instead, Amazon's version of events is that a choice was given to Gyllenhaal and the filmmakers about how to proceed after the MGM acquisition ... and a choice was made.

Amazon completed its acquisition of MGM for $8.5 billion in March 2022.  Road House had been in development at the studio since November 2021. In the beginning, as MGM produced films for theatrical release, streaming wasn't a consideration.

Once Amazon took over, though, things changed. Mike De Luca and Pam Adby, who'd been running MGM, had left for Warner Bros. and the film found itself in development hell. That is, until Amazon Studios head Jennifer Salke salvaged it.

However, according to the outlet's sources, Gyllenhaal and the filmmakers were offered a choice. They could continue making a theatrical release with a $60 million budget, or they could take an $85 million budget, but the film would be released streaming. Per Variety's source, "They all took the money."

By August 2022, it was clear the film was going to be a streaming-exclusive, making Liman's January 2023 blast against the company even odder. He was even part of the press release, noting, "I'm thrilled to put my own spin on the beloved Roadhouse."

Producer Joel Silver, who also produced the original film for MGM, was also quoted in the release about his "excitement" about this new version. However, he was pushing so hard for a theatrical release even after that, the studio was ready to cut him loose.

In late 2023, Salke did finally let Silver go, though the reason cited was alleged verbal abuse of company employees. He was also removed from their upcoming Play Dirty, starring Mark Wahlberg. In response, Silver hired lawyer Bryan Freedman, with Variety saying its unclear how the matter was resolved.

The official statement on the matter came from WME consultant Anthony Pellicano, who said of Silver and Amazon, "The parting of the ways is amicable. He was not fired. There were just disagreements with creative concerns."

Now, it looks like there are more disagreements with everything to do with the film, as far as Liman is concerned. He never quite comes out and says he was promised a theatrical release from Amazon, though, in his open letter. Amazon has not responded to it.

Yes, he was hired to make a theatrical film before Amazon bought MGM, but that film was just about dead in the water following the acquisition before Salke revived it. In his open letter, LIman instead he was told to make a great film and "we will see what happens."

He went on to tout the quality of the film, the testing, the press response, the film's connections to the UFC. He argues fans will want to see this film on the big screen.

Instead of being able to say explicitly that Amazon misrepresented their intentions to him, he mentions their statements at the time of the MGM acquisition when they said "they would put a billion dollars into theatrical motion pictures, releasing at least 12 a year," per Liman's letter.

He went on, "They touted it as 'the largest commitment to cinemas by an internet company.'" And it's because of this statement that he feels he's been let down. "Contrary to their public statements, Amazon has no interest in supporting cinemas," he argued, "Amazon will exclusively stream Road House on Amazon's Prime."

"Amazon asked me and the film community to trust them and their public statements about supporting cinemas," he continued, "and then they turned around and are using Road House to sell plumbing fixtures."

He says the decision "hurts" the filmmakers and stars of the film, and denied Gyllenhaal a chance at winning major awards next awards season. He also suggests the decision could be "industry shaping for decades to come," and could lead to the end of movie theaters.

"If we don't put tentpole movies in movie theaters, there won't be movie theaters in the future," he argued. From there, he broke down his perceived impact on indy films, movie stars, film executives. He touted Christopher Nolan and Tom Cruise for helping to keep theaters alive during the pandemic by insisting their movies play there first.

Ultimately, he said that while he believes the Amazon film executives are "good people who are trying to do their best," he was unable to convince them to release the film theatrical, or even allow him to sell it to a studio that would.

"Maybe they are victims in this as well, forced to betray the artists they spent their careers supporting," he wrote. "The reality is there may not be a human villain in this story -- it may simply be an Amazon computer algorithm."

"Amazon will sell more toasters if it has more subscribers; it will have more subscribers if it doesn't have to compete with movie theaters," he continued. "A computer could come up with that elegant solution as easily as it could solve global warming by killing all humans."