‘Freaky’ Director Slams ‘Halloween Ends’ Release on Peacock: ‘Stop Gambling With Filmmakers’

“Halloween Ends” has become the latest film that Universal has moved to a day-and-date release strategy with a simultaneous rollout in theaters and on its streaming service Peacock. But Christopher Landon, who directed the Blumhouse horror films “Happy Death Day” and “Freaky” for Universal, is sick of Hollywood using the strategy at the expense of directors.

In a Twitter thread on Saturday, Landon talked about how “Freaky,” his horror comedy about a teenage girl who switches bodies with a wanted serial killer, was released theatrically in November 2020 during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic but then released as a video-on-demand title less than a month later, in keeping with Universal’s then-newly-signed agreement with major theater chains allowing them to release films on-demand as early as 17 days after theatrical release.

“Studios: stop gambling with filmmakers and their movies to try and prop up your fledgling streaming services. This happened to me on Freaky and it destroyed us. We worked SO HARD to make a fun movie. Blood sweat and tears. Months away from our families. And for what?” he lamented.

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While Universal and its indie wing Focus Features have released dozens of theatrically-exclusive films since theaters reopened in spring 2021, the 17-day windowing deal has been a major factor in the elimination of the 90-day theatrical window that was defended by theaters prior to the COVID-19 pandemic.

And while Universal has not used the day-and-date strategy as liberally as other studios like Warner Bros., which released all of its 2021 films in theaters and on HBO Max simultaneously, it has tried it with a few films. Along with “Halloween Ends,” films like its predecessor “Halloween Kills,” DreamWorks’ “The Boss Baby: Family Business” and the Jennifer Lopez/Owen Wilson rom-com “Marry Me” have also gone day-and-date on Peacock.

“They love to use the term: ‘two bites of the apple’ but that’s just another way of saying ‘we’re gonna use your movie as a Guinea pig’ for our streaming service. Sorry. I begged the studio not to do this. Either circle the wagons and protect it for theatrical or just go all in on streaming,” Landon wrote.

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But after this weekend, it’s probably unlikely that Universal will completely give up the practice. While “Halloween Ends” earned the lowest opening of the franchise’s reboot trilogy with a $41 million launch, Universal reported that the film became Peacock’s most-watched film in the first two days of release. Universal did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

The experimenting with theatrical windows is likely to continue as Hollywood navigates deeper into this streaming-fueled era, but Landon made his stance clear with a profane conclusion to his thread:

“Dear studios: stop trying to suck two d—s at the same time. Honor the sanctity of the theatrical experience. End rant.”

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