Pandemic shift lands film studio in court

For those who hate the sticky floors of movie theaters, it has long been a utopian dream that films would be available for home streaming on the same day — the pandemic made it a reality and at least one studio is facing a lawsuit because of it.

As reported in the New York Times, the film production and financing company Village Roadshow filed a lawsuit on Monday against its partner Warner Bros. Entertainment claiming the studio engaged in “deliberate and consistent coordinated efforts” to reduce the value of Village Roadshow’s intellectual property by releasing the dystopian saga “The Matrix Resurrections” simultaneously in theaters and on the streaming service HBO Max.

WarnerMedia, which owns both Warner Bros. and HBO Max, released all of its movies in 2021 simultaneously in theaters and on its streaming platform.

Yet the complaint alleges that Warner Bros. used the pandemic as an excuse, claiming Warner Bros. rushed the release of the movie to help boost HBO Max subscriptions, a revenue stream Village Roadshow doesn’t benefit from.

“The Matrix Resurrections” earned only $37 million at the domestic box office — the last three Matrix films earned between $139 million and $282 million at the box office, according to boxofficemojo.com.