Road House remake director boycotts premiere of Jake Gyllenhaal starrer

The director of Road House has decided to bow out from the upcoming film’s premiere in an act of boycott.

Doug Liman’s decision came after Amazon MGM Studios axed the theatrical release of the film in favour of exlusive premiere on Prime Video.

In an editorial for Deadline, the 58-year-old filmmaker reflected on the longterm repurcussions of the decision, including extinction of movie theaters in the future.

“Movies like Road House, people actually want to see on the big screen, and it was made for the big screen,” he argued.

“Without movie theaters,” Liman continued, “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. Film executives are also at risk,” he added.

The Edge of Tomorrow director also called out the streaming platform for continued layoffs, resulting from lack of revenue generated by declining business of theaters.

“And once the theaters go out of business, it could take decades for the business to recover, if ever,” he added.

Set to release on Mar. 21, the remake of the 1989 titular film stars Jake Gyllenhaal as Elwood Dalton, a former UFC fighter who now works as a bouncer.

Darren Barnet, Daniela Melchior, Arturo Castro, Jessica Williams, Billy Magnussen, J.D. Pardo, and real-life UFC champion Conor McGregor also star.