Steven Spielberg recently slammed Warner Bros. Discovery for "throwing filmmakers under the bus" during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Spielberg took the studio to task in an interview with The New York Times. "The pandemic created an opportunity for streaming platforms to raise their subscriptions to record-breaking levels and also throw some of my best filmmaker friends under the bus as their movies were unceremoniously not given theatrical releases," he said. "They were paid off and the films were suddenly relegated to, in this case, HBO Max. The case I’m talking about." Spielberg went on to discuss how audience expectations have shifted in the streaming era. The Oscar-winning director argued that movies today have to "be good enough to get all the audiences to say [they were worth going to the cinema for] to each other when the lights come back up."
Spielberg is one of the most critically and commercially successful filmmakers of all time. Several of his movies are frequently cited as among the greatest ever made, including Jaws, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Schindler's List and the Indiana Jones series. A notable example of the enduring popularity of Spielberg's work is the upcoming auction of the original animatronic heads used in E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial. Although E.T. is now 40 years old, each animatronic head is expected to rake in between $2 and $3 million when they go under the hammer in December 2022.
What's Next for Steven Spielberg?
Spielberg's newer output continues to impress critics, as well. His 2021 remake of West Side Story garnered rave reviews and was nominated for the Best Picture Oscar, although it performed poorly at the box office. The director's next feature is the semi-autobiographical drama The Fabelmans, which has met with widespread critical acclaim ahead of its Nov. 11, 2022 release date. Spielberg's directing was singled out for particular praise, as was Michelle Williams' performance and Janusz Kamiński's cinematography.
Aside from his work in the director's chair, Spielberg is also either the producer or executive producer on several high-profile productions set to premiere in the near future. This includes the untitled fifth Indiana Jones film, Transformers sequel Rise of the Beasts, and Leonard Bernstein biopic Maestro. Spielberg also played a pivotal role in getting the recently announced Twister follow-up Twisters greenlit, as he was reportedly very impressed with The Revenant scribe Mark L. Smith's screenplay for the sequel. Spielberg served as an executive producer on the original Twister, through his production company Amblin Entertainment.
Source: NY Times