By TeeJay Small
| Published
Warner Bros has been under fire from general audiences nonstop for the last few years, due to a series of decisions from the top brass that seem to spit in the face of creative filmmakers and consumers everywhere. As you may already know, the studio has shelved a series of long-awaited films that were already fully completed and ready for release, stripped many beloved projects from their streaming homes, and generally gave WGA and SAG-AFTRA union workers an incredibly rough time during last year’s combined strikes. Now, according to a write-up in The Guardian, Warner Bros has kneecapped the success of Clint Eastwood’s Juror #2, by preventing the film from getting a wide release across the United States.
Juror #2 Won’t Get A Wide Release
The situation with Warner Bros and Juror #2 is extremely bizarre, as the film should be a big winner for the studio, at least on paper. The movie touts writing and direction from an acclaimed filmmaker with decades of tenure in the Hollywood space, an eye-catching cast, and a shocking narrative that centers on a family man serving as a juror, presiding over a crime that he may have committed himself.
Despite these positive indicators, David Zaslav and company seem committed to preventing the film from succeeding at the box office, by restricting it to screen in fewer than 50 theaters within the country.
Warner Bros. Buries The Clint Eastwood Film
Despite the slow-roll strategy for Juror #2 in American theaters, the film has already opened in more than 300 cinemas across the UK. Given the movie’s exceptionally American presentation, it seems odd that Warner Bros would alienate such a large chunk of Juror #2‘s potential audience. To make things even stranger, it’s looking like the studio won’t even be submitting the movie for Oscar attention, further signaling a general lack of faith in the film’s projected performance.
Warner Bros has also pulled a bizarre and nigh-unprecedented move by choosing to obfuscate the box office earnings of Juror #2. Such a practice is almost exclusively done by movies that premiere direct-to-streaming. To an outside observer, these moves look like damage control from a studio with absolutely no faith in the success or quality of their project- but what could possibly install Warner Bros with such trepidation for this film?
Eastwood’s lengthy career has consistently churned out financially successful hits, even when they’re lacking in critical praise, so there really should be no reason for Warner Bros to show such a lack of confidence in Juror #2. Perhaps the filmmaker, aged 94, is having internal issues with execs at Warner Bros, and his film is being punished for it. This theory has been floated by fans ever since Eastwood refused to attend Juror #2‘s initial premiere, though neither party has said anything to confirm the existence of a behind-the-scenes beef.
Clint Eastwood’s Last Film
Even still, many fans seem to believe that Juror #2 will be Clint Eastwood‘s final outing, considering his advanced age, meaning the film really should be treated with some level of respect. Whether you’re a fan of Eastwood’s work or not, it should absolutely ring alarm bells that Warner Bros is treating their own financial investment in Juror #2 so poorly. This serves as one in a long list of examples that paint Warner Bros as an incompetent, money-driven outfit headed by petty investors who have no understanding of art nor the film business overall.
Source: The Guardian