Dune director hits back over HBO Max release
Dune director Denis Villeneuve is not at all happy with Warner Bros' decision to send 17 films, including Dune, to streaming platform HBO Max on the same day they're released in US cinemas.
The studio made the announcement, which will affect titles released in 2021, last week. Now, Villeneuve has penned a blistering open letter about the issue, claiming the motivation was purely financial.
"There is absolutely no love for cinema, nor for the audience here," he said in a piece for Variety.
Although not a full-scale attack on streaming – Villeneuve acknowledged online platforms as "positive and powerful" – the director insisted that "streaming alone can't sustain the film industry as we knew it before COVID".
Related: The Suicide Squad, The Matrix 4, Space Jam 2 and more going to streaming at same time as cinemas
"Streaming can produce great content, but not movies of Dune's scope and scale," he continued. "Warner Bros' decision means Dune won't have the chance to perform financially in order to be viable and piracy will ultimately triumph.
"Warner Bros might just have killed the Dune franchise."
Offering some insight into the decision to delay Dune's release date, Villeneuve said that he "understood and supported" the decision to push back the drama's premiere in light of the global pandemic. "Public safety comes first. Nobody argues with that," he added.
Related: Dune: Release date, cast, plot and everything you need to know
Reiterating his commitment to making movies for the big screen, and communal audiences, Denis explained that Dune was made as a "unique big-screen experience": "Our movie's image and sound were meticulously designed to be seen in theatres...
"Since the dawn of time, humans have deeply needed communal storytelling experiences. Cinema on the big screen is more than a business, it is an art form that brings people together, celebrating humanity, enhancing our empathy for one another – it's one of the very last artistic, in-person collective experiences we share as human beings."
In a final tribute to cinema and movie-going, Villeneuve promised fans that theatres will once again "be filled" with audiences when the pandemic is over.
"That is my strong belief," he concluded. "Not because the movie industry needs it, but because we humans need cinema, as a collective experience. Long live theatrical cinema!"
Dune is set to premiere on October 1, 2021.
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