While hosting SNL, Dune star Timothée Chalamet secretly showed his support for criticism of Warner Bros.’ recent movie deal with HBO Max. After delivering a monologue and appeared in several sketches, the Chalamet ended the night wearing a Legendary brand sweatshirt. He stars in the upcoming Legendary and Warner Bros. sci-fi remake and likely chose the attire to express solidarity with Legendary after Warner Bros. and parent company WarnerMedia moved Dune to HBO Max. The sci-fi epic based on Frank Herbert’s classic will now premiere on HBO Max, concurrent with its theatrical release on October 1, 2021.
Warner Bros. announcement that Dune (along with all 17 of their 2021 films, including Godzilla vs. Kong) will release on HBO Max is a huge blow to Legendary Entertainment. Both Dune and Godzilla vs. Kong were primarily financed and produced by Legendary, though Warner Bros. owns the distribution rights for both films. Furthermore, Warner Bros. made the announcement that Dune (and dozens of other films) would release on HBO Max without consulting or notifying Legendary – or any of the other studios that contributed to the Warner Bros. films set for 2021. Dune director Denis Villeneuve has been critical of the decision – and it seems that Chalamet has now joined Villeneuve.
Chalamet’s SNL hosting gig was likely booked because of Dune’s upcoming release, which was originally scheduled for November of this year and then pushed to December before being delayed until 2021. But Chalamet didn’t mention the film in his monologue, which is when the host would typically promote their recent work. Then, Chalamet appeared at the end of the episode in a sweatshirt that bore the name and logo of Legendary Entertainment. It wouldn’t be the first time that an SNL host has made a statement with their apparel. Don Cheadle, Kristen Wiig, and John Mulaney have worn shirts that either paid tribute, expressed solidarity, or raised awareness to issues that are important to them. Timothée Chalamet appears to have taken a page out of the same book, though Legendary’s plight probably doesn’t carry the same weight as some of the other issues addressed by SNL hosts’ attire.
Ultimately, it’s about money and – to some extent – principle. Legendary’s concern is that Dune’s release on HBO Max will benefit WarnerMedia, Warner Bros, and HBO Max without properly compensating Legendary – which, again, financed the majority of both Godzilla vs. Kong and Dune. Legendary has been trying to recover Dune’s massive production budget while theaters are closed and Covid-19 cases are at an all-time high in the United States. Netflix even offered Legendary a deal for Godzilla vs. Kong, but the deal was blocked by WarnerMedia, who owns both Warner Bros. Studios and the streaming platform HBO Max. Patrick Whitesell, executive chairman of media agency Endeavor, said that the Warner Bros. move is a “blatant attempt to self-deal and use our clients’ work to build their HBO Max streaming service, which our clients have no financial interest in” [via Variety]. The move has also been publicly criticized by several of today’s most prominent directors.
Patty Jenkins, Judd Apatow, and Christopher Nolan have all criticized Warner Bros. and voiced concern for the film industry, stating that the short-term solution of moving films to HBO Max will have larger and more negative consequences in the long run. The film industry has been crippled by the Covid-19 pandemic: productions have halted, and theaters are closed. Public interest in moviegoing will almost certainly recover, but theaters, creators, and even well-known film studios like Legendary might not.
In short, no one in this situation is happy with the way things are going in the film industry, but Legendary is clearly bearing the brunt of the consequences following WarnerMedia’s decision to move Dune to HBO Max. Timothée Chalamet ended his SNL hosting debut with a message on kindness, saying, “Treat others with kindness… We could all do with a little bit of kindness. Every little gesture counts.” Simultaneously, Chalamet made a bold fashion statement that clearly expressed his support for his Dune costars, director Denis Villeneuve, and its production company, Legendary Entertainment.
Originally from https://screenrant.com/saturday-night-live-chamalet-legendary-hbo-max-criticism/