The Matrix Resurrection producers suing Warners for box office bomb
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'Hybrid releases' cost the box office many millions.
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The Matrix Resurrection received mixed reviews upon its release (Warner Brothers)
The decision to release The Matrix Resurrection using a hybrid model has outraged financiers of the movie, opting them to sue Warner Bros for simultaneously releasing the movie in cinemas and the company's streaming service, HBO Max to cater to the pandemic.
Village Roadshow, one of the financiers, argues that this decision destroyed any box office chances in December.
The movie, which is budgeted at $190 million, made only $37 million in the US and $153 million internationally. A previous installment in the franchise, The Matrix Reloaded, scooped up over $740 million back in 2003.
“WB’s strategy not only ensured that The Matrix Resurrections would be a bust at the box office, but it also inflicted serious harm to the entire Matrix franchise,” the suit claims. “There can be no doubt that the abysmal theatrical box office sales figures from The Matrix Resurrections dilute the value of this tentpole franchise as a film’s lack of profitability generally prevents studios from investing in additional sequels and derivative films in the near term.”
Upon release of the film, Resurrections faced some hot and cold reviews: one of The Guardian's journalists, Peter Bradshaw, called it “a heavy-footed reboot which doesn’t offer a compelling reason for its existence.”
Village Roadshow has invested more than $4.5 billion in partnership with Warner Bros - a relationship that lasted more than two decades. However, they accuse the Bros of 'devious schemes' in which they are devising to deprive Roadshow of their rights to co-owned films, such as Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and Edge of Tomorrow.
“This is a frivolous attempt by Village Roadshow to avoid their contractual commitment to participate in the arbitration that we commenced against them last week,” the studio said in response. “We have no doubt that this case will be resolved in our favor.”
Similar grievances were made with Black Widow's star Scarlett Johansson when Marvel released her movie on Disney+ the same day of its theater release.
