Studios are pissing off a lot of folks. Most of them were blindsided by studios who decided to dump their content onto streaming services without a heads up.
The latest in Hollywood to be shocked by these type of announcements are Mark Wahlberg and director Antoine Fuqua (The Equalizer) who were surprised to discover their film Infinite will premiere exclusively on Paramount+.
The Hollywood Reporter suggests the “blindsiding” technique is what the future of film looks like as long as Covid-19 is an issue. According to the report, Fuqua and Infinite producer Lorenzo di Bonaventura were clueless about the deal and left out of all negotiations and changes happening with the film.
While Paramount was hush-hush about what they’re doing with their film slate, Disney is striking up new deals with talent. Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson and Emily Blunt renegotiated with the studio regarding their film Jungle Cruise—as the movie is moving to Disney+ with premiere access.
All this drama started last year as studios were scrambling to figure out what to do with their films when theaters were closed. Trolls World Tour was the first film to hit VOD without notice to the talent. Then Warner Brothers dropped most of their 2021 slate onto HBO Max and gave people little to no warning. Jon Chu, director of WB property In The Heights, found out about the news on the day of. According to The Wall Street Journal, this decision cost the studio hundreds of millions of dollars in payments to talent.
How do you feel about blockbuster films going straight to television? Do you think it’s a good idea? Let us know!
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