Dune director slams Warner

`No love for cinema, nor audience here,' Villeneuve says

Dune director Denis Villeneuve has written an op-ed slamming Warner Bros. for its decision to release his movie on HBO Max, as part of a huge new deal with its streaming platform.

The studio plans to release each movie in its entire 2021 slate to U.S. theatres and streaming at the same time. HBO Max is not available in Canada, so some Canadian market plans remain unclear. Media giant AT&T owns both the studio and the streamer.

The Quebec-born, Oscar-nominated director writes about the move in a piece for Variety, also revealing he had found out about the deal by reading it in the news.

“I learned in the news that Warner Bros. has decided to release Dune on HBO Max at the same time as our theatrical release, using prominent images from our movie to promote their streaming service,” he wrote. “With this decision, AT&T has hijacked one of the most respectable and

With this decision, AT&T has hijacked one of the most respectable and important studios in film history.

DENIS VILLENEUVE

important studios in film history. There is absolutely no love for cinema, nor for the audience, here.

“Warner Bros.' sudden reversal from being a legacy home for filmmakers to the new era of complete disregard draws a clear line for me. Filmmaking is a collaboration, reliant on the mutual trust of team work, and Warner Bros. has declared they are no longer on the same team.”

Calling Dune “by far the best movie” he's ever made, Villeneuve said Warner Bros. “might just have killed the Dune franchise” with its decision.

Villeneuve's op-ed comes after it was reported that Legendary Entertainment, the production company behind Dune, is considering filing a lawsuit against Warner Bros. over the studio's new release plans.

“(They're) hoping to first negotiate a more generous deal, but isn't taking legal action off the table should the two companies fail to come to a compromise,” a source told Variety.