10 Biggest Movie Controversies Of 2021
1. HBO Max's Straight-To-Streaming Deal Upsets Directors
2021 hasn't been a great year for cinema. Although certain releases, like Spider-Man: No Way Home and Venom: Let There Be Carnage, have managed to weather the storm and remain relatively profitable, countless other films have seen delays into 2022 and poor box office numbers kill their chance at a profit.
WarnerMedia, and their streaming platform HBO Max, made the decision early into December 2020 to release their films simultaneously both in cinemas and online. Whilst this makes sense from a financial standpoint, directors of said films weren't too pleased with the decision.
Countless Hollywood big-wigs, such as Christopher Nolan, Denis Villeneuve, and James Gunn, all publicly voiced their contempt for the decision to premiere their big-budget films on the small screen.
David Chase, the showrunner behind The Sopranos and writer of its spin-off movie The Many Saints of Newark, was less than thrilled to hear about his project ending up on HBO Max before hitting cinemas, stating he was "extremely angry" about the decision. He went on to say "I don’t think, frankly that I would’ve taken the job if I knew it was going to be a day-and-date release. I think it’s awful.”