From Doug Liman‘s 1.24.24 Deadline essay, in which he explains his decision to not attend Road House‘s SXSW premiere on March 8th:
“The action [in Road House] is ground-breaking. And Jake Gyllenhaal gives a career-defining performance in a role he was born to play.
“Alas, Amazon has no interest in supporting cinemas. Amazon will exclusively stream Road House on Amazon’s Prime. Amazon asked me and the film community to trust them and their public statements about supporting cinemas, and then they turned around and are using Road House to sell plumbing fixtures.
“That hurts the filmmakers and stars of Road House who don’t share in the upside of a hit movie on a streaming platform.
“And they deprive Jake Gyllenhaal — who gives a career-best performance — the opportunity to be recognized come award season. But the impact goes far beyond this one movie. This could be industry shaping for decades to come.”
HE to Liman: I’ve always loved Jake and I’ve loved many of your films (Swingers, Go, The Bourne Identity, Fair Game, Edge of Tomorrow, American Made), but there’s no way in hell Jake’s Road House performance will be part of the Best Actor discussion at the end of this year. You can’t play a Zen-minded bouncer in a Florida Keys bar and expect any kind of award-season attention…forget it, man.
For what it’s worth, I’d love to see Road House in a theatre.