Road House: Reasons the Reboot Is Skipping Theaters Reportedly Revealed

Recent years have seen a lot of debate about films in regards to whether they will be landing in theaters or exclusively on streaming services, which includes the upcoming Road House reboot from Prime Video. In a new report from Variety, the reason why the Jake Gyllenhaal-starring remake is skipping a theatrical release and is instead a streaming exclusive is that this allowed the filmmakers a larger budget to bring the film to life. Understandably, between disputes about budgets and the COVID pandemic initially shuttering theaters around the globe, only to reopen and see the damaging impact of the pandemic in subsequent years, there’s a lot of complications that Road House had to navigate through. The film is currently set to hit Prime Video on March 21st. 

The new take on Road House started to move forward at MGM in late 2021, but by March of 2022, Amazon acquired the iconic movie studio and, along with it, this remake of the 1989 Patrick Swayze-starring classic. The outlet claims that, in July 2022, director Doug Liman was given the option to either get a theatrical release on a budget of $60 million or debut only on streaming for $85 million, the latter of two choices being selected. 

Joel Silver, a producer on the original movie, was attached to produce this new Road House, with the outlet claiming he was a significant force in a push to still get the film in theaters. In late 2023, Silver was removed from the project, with some sources claiming it was due to his verbal abuse while others claim it was an amicable split due to creative differences. Whatever the circumstances of his exit might have been, having the biggest supporter of a theatrical release parting ways from a project would surely have an impact on its future.

Earlier this year, it was confirmed that, even without a traditional theatrical release, Road House would premiere at the South by Southwest Film Festival, though it was shortly after this announcement that Liman confirmed he would be boycotting the premiere. 

“The facts: I signed up to make a theatrical motion picture for MGM. Amazon bought MGM. Amazon said make a great film and we will see what happens. I made a great film,” Liman shared in a statement about the situation. “If we don’t put tentpole movies in movie theaters, there won’t be movie theaters in the future … Without movie theaters, we won’t have the commercial box office hits that are the locomotives that allow studios to take gambles on original movies and new directors. Without movie theaters we won’t have movie stars. I’m not opposed to streaming movies … But I am opposed to Amazon gutting MGM and its theatrical business, as I would have been had Jeff Bezos bought the Washington Post and then gutted its newsroom (he did the opposite).”

As Liman addressed in his statement, the rift might not be due to a “human villain” in the situation, but rather that his film was considered collateral damage in a merger between two major conglomerates. Warner Bros. Discovery has been facing a backlash in recent years, first due to the studio opting to release its 2021 slate in theaters and on HBO Max on the same day, and more recently for opting to scrap completed or nearly finished films, such as Coyote vs. Acme and Batgirl.

Road House will land on Prime Video on March 21st.

What do you think of the situation? Let us know in the comments!