Top director attacks Warner streaming plan

DIRECTOR Christopher Nolan has criticised Warner Bros over its plans to release major new films on its streaming service.

The titles – such as Dune, Matrix 4 and the Suicide Squad – will premiere simultaneously on HBO Max and in US cinemas next year.

The move, in response to the pandemic, was seen as a hammer blow to the hard-hit cinema industry. Nolan, who was worked with Warner Bros since his 2002 hit Insomnia, said his first reaction to last week’s announcement was ‘disbelief’.

He added: ‘There’s such controversy around it because they didn’t tell anyone.’

Nolan also described HBO Max as ‘the worst streaming service’. He said Warner Bros has ‘got some of the top filmmakers in the world, they’ve got some of the biggest stars who worked for years on these projects very close to their hearts that are meant to be big- screen experiences’.

Nolan’s Warner Bros-produced films include the Dark Knight trilogy, pictured, Inception and Dunkirk. He said of the company: ‘ They’re meant to be out there for the widest possible audiences.

And now they’re being used as a loss- leader for the streaming service – for the fledgling streaming service – without consultation.’ HBO Max is not currently available in the UK – but Warner Bros has planned to expand it to Europe in the second half of next year. Nolan, an advocate of the cinematic experience, released his time-bending thriller Tenet in August. He said it was vital to attract the public back into theatres following the lockdown. The film has grossed £270million at the global box office which is seen as a disappointment. Nolan also told Entertainment Weekly: ‘It’s very, very, very, very messy... It’s not how you treat filmmakers and stars and people who have given a lot for these projects. They deserved to be consulted and spoken to about what was going to happen to their work.’

He added: ‘Some of our industry’s biggest filmmakers and most important movie stars went to bed the night before thinking they were working for the greatest movie studio and woke up to find out they were working for the worst streaming service.’

‘Warner Bros had an incredible machine for getting a filmmaker’s work out everywhere, both in theatres and in the home, and they are dismantling it as we speak. They don’t even understand what they’re losing.’

Warner Bros had no comment last night.