Doug Liman attends ‘Road House’ premiere at SXSW despite proposing boycott
Despite making plans to boycott the SXSW premiere of his movie Road House, Doug Liman was in attendance as his new project received standing ovations.
The movie, a remake of Rowdy Herrington’s 1989 film starring Patrick Swayze, is set for release on March 24th. However, back in January, Liman shared his frustration when it was announced that his movie would not be getting a theatrical release.
Instead, the movie would premiere at SXSW before hitting Amazon Prime Video, allowing audiences to stream Road House from the comfort of their own home.
Liman, known for directing movies like The Bourne Identity and Edge of Tomorrow, published a statement which revealed that he was under the impression that he’d “signed up to make a theatrical motion picture.”
He explained that he would be “silently protest Amazon’s decision to stream a movie so clearly made for the big screen” by not attending the premiere of his film, adding, “Amazon has no interest in supporting cinemas.”
The filmmaker continued, “[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.”
However, to many people’s surprise, Liman sat in the audience of Road House’s SXSW premiere on March 8th. The movie received a positive response from the crowd, who gave it a standing ovation.
Jake Gyllenhaal, the movie’s star, thanked Liman on stage, revealing his presence in the theatre. He said: “I want to thank our incredible director. He’s in the audience tonight. He’s been a friend for over 15 years, I’ve wanted to work with him for that time, we’re so lucky. He’s so brilliant and this movie is too.”
Watch the trailer below.
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