Avengers: Endgame and The Gray Man directors Joe and Anthony Russo give a blunt response to the ongoing theatrical vs. streaming debate.
Avengers: Endgame and The Gray Man directors Joe and Anthony Russo give a blunt response to the theatrical vs. streaming debate. The directing duo known as The Russo Bros got their start with the comedies like Welcome to Collinwood and You, Me, and Dupree, before working on TV shows like Arrested Development and Community, and then making the leap to big-budget feature films, starting with MCU behemoths like Captain America: Civil War and Avengers: Endgame. They have since moved on to working in the streaming world, having directed Cherry for Apple TV+ and now The Gray Man for Netflix.
In the last few years, Hollywood dealt with a shifting dynamic in terms of content delivery, brought on largely by the pandemic. With theaters shut down for more than a year, it’s been a rocky journey back to the theatrical release model, with many studios such as Warner Bros. negotiating a shorter theatrical window of 45 days prior to streaming release, while some have opted to go directly to streaming for specific releases. This has caused a rift in Hollywood, from industry professionals to movie patrons, as they argue over the theatrical model vs. the streaming model in terms of how a movie should be seen.
The Russo Bros chimed in on the matter (via THR), giving a blunt response to the debate, calling the notion of being able to go to a theater “elitist” and saying that the theatrical experience being a sacred space is “bullsh*t.” They argue that theaters are expensive and that it can hinder the idea of “allowing everyone in under the tent.” They also make a case for sharing accounts, allowing more people to see more content without the added expense of paying for it per story. The filmmakers outright reject the notion of having a culture war over theatrical vs. streaming, calling it “f*cking bananas.” Here’s their full quote:
Auteur filmmaking is 50 years old at this point. It was conceived in the ’70s. We grew up on that. We were kids, it was really important to us. But we’re also aware that the world needs to change and the more that we try to prevent it from changing the more chaos we create. It’s not anyone’s place to reject the next generation’s ideas. We’re in crisis right now because everyone’s at war with each other. It’s sad to see, as guys who grew up loving film. A thing to remember, too, is it’s an elitist notion to be able to go to a theater. It’s very f*cking expensive. So, this idea that was created — that we hang on to — that the theater is a sacred space, is bullsh*t. And it rejects the idea of allowing everyone in under the tent. Where digital distribution is valuable, other than what I said earlier about how it pushed diversity, is that people can share accounts; they can get 40 stories for the cost of one story. But having some kind of culture war about whether there’s value in that or not is f*cking bananas to us.
It’s interesting that The Russo Bros are arguing for shared accounts, as password sharing has been an issue for Netflix, which the company has blamed in part for their dwindling subscriber loss. While they could simply be referring to shared family accounts, it’s an ironic notion given that Netflix is funding their current film The Gray Man, as well as their next planned endeavor, The Electric State, with Millie Bobby Brown and Chris Pratt. Ultimately, the filmmakers have expressed the desire to reach audiences, not being tied down to one model to do so, with Anthony saying, “How do you reach audiences that haven’t been engaged before? That’s all the most interesting stuff to us.”
Having directed the second highest-grossing movie of all time (Avengers: Endgame) and continued to chase their passions through multiple projects in film, streaming, and elsewhere, The Russo Bros have more than proven to be a filmmaking duo worth listening to. While their stance on theatrical vs. streaming is debatable, there’s some real thought, introspection, and planning that’s gone into how they choose to work and where they choose to show it, which will set a precedent for future filmmakers no matter what. For better or worse, the pandemic has altered the traditional theatrical model, which was already getting closer and closer to the current distribution flow, and The Russo Bros. appear to be well ahead of it. The duo will no doubt be a part of the evolving way content is seen, including their next film, The Gray Man, which debuts on Netflix on July 22.
Source: THR
- The Gray Man (2022)Release date: Jul 15, 2022
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