Warner Bros. made the announcement late last year that they’re bringing their entire current 2021 theatrical slate to both theaters and the WarnerMedia streaming service HBO Max at the very same time, and that includes huge films like Godzilla vs. Kong, Dune, The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It, James Wan’s Malignant, Mortal Kombat and more.
That all sounds great, yeah? Well, here’s where things get messy. According to various reports that came out in the wake of that huge news, production company Legendary Pictures wasn’t exactly happy about WB’s decision to bring their movies Godzilla vs. Kong and Dune to HBO Max on the same day as theaters, and they were reportedly considering legal action.
Mike Fleming Jr. explained on Deadline last month, “I’m hearing that Legendary Entertainment either has or will send legal letters to Warner Bros as soon as today, challenging the decision to put the Denis Villenueve-directed Dune into the HBO Max deal, and maybe Godzilla Vs Kong as well. On the latter, Legendary reportedly had Netflix ready to pull the film from Warner Bros for around $250 million, before WarnerMedia blocked it. Sources said Legendary had no advance notice before last week’s announcement that both Dune and Godzilla Vs. Kong were part of the HBO Max plan.”
“Legendary certainly seems to have the right to challenge WarnerMedia on its decision: Legendary and its partners provided 75% of the $165 million or so net budget of Dune, the Denis Villenueve-directed adaptation of the Frank Herbert novel that was envisioned to be the first of multiple films exploiting the six-novel series. It put up a similar amount of the funding on the Godzilla Vs. Kong film,” Fleming Jr. continued
A report from Kim Masters and Borys Kit over on THR tonight provides an update on the dilemma. Masters and Kit report, “The studio is nearing a deal with Legendary Entertainment with respect to the release of Godzilla vs. Kong, sources tell The Hollywood Reporter.”
The report continues, “An agreement means the parties are close to averting a potential legal confrontation over Warner Media’s surprise decision to put its entire 2021 slate on its HBO Max streamer on the same date that the films open in theaters.”
Head over to The Hollywood Reporter to read the full report while we wait for more.
Godzilla vs. Kong is currently still set for release on May 21, 2021.
