Warner Bros. will release its entire 2021 film slate on HBO Max concurrent with theaters

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In an unprecedented announcement, the studio will send 17 films — including 'The Matrix 4,' 'The Suicide Squad' and 'Dune' to its streaming service for 31 days the same day they hit theaters.

Warner Bros. is plotting a sweeping response to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, which has shuttered movie theaters around the country.
After announcing that Wonder Woman 1984 will go to HBO Max as well as theaters on Dec. 25, the studio has laid out a similar path for its 2021 slate amid uncertainty about when movie-going will get back to normal.

The studio announced Thursday day-and-date releases for its 17-film slate, which will hit HBO Max for a one-month window that starts the same day they will be available in U.S. theaters.

The studio's 2021 slate includes projects such as The Suicide Squad, The Matrix 4, Dune, Godzilla vs. Kong and Space Jam: A New Legacy. Other films include Little Things, Judas and the Black Messiah, Tom & Jerry, Mortal Kombat, Those Who Wish Me Dead, The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It, In The Heights, Reminiscence, Malignant, The Many Saints of Newark, King Richard and Cry Macho.

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AMC, the world's largest theater chain, is criticizing Warner Bros.' newly unveiled plan to send its 2021 feature films — which include the Suicide Squad sequel, Dune and the fourth Matrix movie — to the studio's streaming service, HBO Max, on the same day the titles release in theaters.

“Clearly, Warner Media intends to sacrifice a considerable portion of the profitability of its movie studio division, and that of its production partners and filmmakers, to subsidize its HBO Max startup," said Adam Aron, CEO and president of AMC Entertainment, in a statement to The Hollywood Reporter. "As for AMC, we will do all in our power to ensure that Warner does not do so at our expense.  We will aggressively pursue economic terms that preserve our business."

“These coronavirus-impacted times are uncharted waters for all of us, which is why AMC signed on to an HBO Max exception to customary practices for one film only, Wonder Woman 1984, being released by Warner Brothers at Christmas when the pandemic appears that it will be at its height," read a statement from the exhibitor, which added, "However, Warner now hopes to do this for all their 2021 theatrical movies, despite the likelihood that with vaccines right around the corner the theatre business is expected to recover.”

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Following closely on the heels of Warner Bros.’ recent announcement that director Patty Jenkins’s Wonder Woman 1984 would sidestep standard movie-distribution protocol by opening first in cinemas internationally on December 16 and then streaming on HBO Max on Christmas Day (while releasing in domestic theaters the same day), the move caught many in the entertainment industry by surprise — not least executives at production companies behind films on Warner Bros.’ 2021 corridor. According to an insider with knowledge of the situation who spoke to Vulture on condition of anonymity, top brass at Village Roadshow, the company making The Matrix 4, and Legendary Pictures, the company producing Godzilla vs. Kong, were neither consulted nor warned of the studio’s impending distribution upheaval. And they were shocked to discover their tentpole releases were going day and date by reading about it in news reports.

Likewise, many filmmakers with movies in Warner Bros.’ “coming attractions” queue were caught off guard by reading the news. “HOLY shite,” one texted to his equally flabbergasted agent. “This is ridiculous that they wouldn’t even make one phone call,” another said in a message to an executive at a rival studio. “They didn’t even try to reach out. And they just assume that we would go along with this.”

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