THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER 60 OCTOBER 30, 2019
MAYBE: DOANE GREGORY/NETFLIX.now doesn’t really change that
that much. To do our jobs,
you’ve got to be a strong First
Amendment advocate.
EMMERICH Right.
ROTHMAN But you do make moral
judgments. I certainly have.
GIANOPULOS To Donna’s point,
given the extent of gun violence
in our society, there is a height-
ened sensitivity. There is a certain
responsibility and a line. We have
to define that line for our compa-
nies and for our filmmakers.
ROTHMAN But you can’t abdicate
responsibility either.
As an industry, we’re at a stale-
mate where traditional studios
are releasing films in theaters and
three months later they go to home
video. Netflix and, increasingly,
Amazon, is direct to home video, at
times with a theatrical component,
but the major theater chains refuse
to play those movies. When is the
stalemate going to end?
STUBER We all have to get to a place
where there is opportunity and
choice and more movies. It’s not
always one size fits all. We have to
be cognizant of everyone’s busi-
nesses and protect them.
Alan, Donna and Toby, your par-
ent companies are all launching
streaming services. Do you antici-
pate that changing the company
position on film windows?
LANGLEY I can’t speak to that. But
we all know that it’s a nonstarter
for the companies to have the
conversation with exhibition.
Our agendas are not aligned at
all. And ultimately, it might be
the consumer, the audience that
speaks. Particularly as more ser-
vices come online. The business
model may just shift to such a
degree that it winds up becoming
so obvious that something has
to change.
HORN We re-evaluate everything
all the time, but we are commit-
ted to the theatrical window and
that model has worked for us. I
agree that one size doesn’t fit all. I
agree also that consumers would
like every film available on every
medium immediately.
In five or 10 years, will I be able to
pay $100 and watch Avengers 10
on my Disney+ the weekend it’s
in theaters?
HORN Right now, no. I can’t predict
five or 10 years from now.Jim, you are now making movies
specifically for Netflix —
GIANOPULOS Every chance we get.
(Laughs.)But when you’re figuring out what
is a Paramount release and what
is for Netflix, how does it not turn
into an “A”- and “B”-level movie
determination?
GIANOPULOS It’s a choice you
make as you develop. We
develop 10 or 12 properties for
every movie we make. There
are lots of properties where you
get to a point where you talk
about theatricality and you say,
“Well, this movie may work.
But am I going to spend
$30 [million] or $40 [million]
or $50 million [marketing]
that to people?”
HORN Mm-hmm.
GIANOPULOS Whereas if Scott
wants it and both of us ben-
efit from it, it’s no different
really than studios have been
making [movies of the week]
for the TV networks for 50 or
60 years.
HORN I don’t see it as an A or B
movie thing. It’s financial.Toby, have you thought about what
a Warner Bros. movie for HBO Max
looks like?
EMMERICH We are starting to talk
about it.
STUBER Come on, tell me!
EMMERICH (Laughs.)
STUBER With Jim, we made this
[teen rom-com] To All the Boys
I’ve Loved Before, which is a ter-
rific film. There have been genres
that we have lost in the theatri-
cal business. What everyone will
find in a great way [with stream-
ing] is you open the funnel. Even
Roma, right? Which on paper is
a black-and-white foreign-lan-
guage film, but the audience was
there for it.
HORN We still have Fox
Searchlight, which both of
these gentlemen [Rothman and
Gianopulos] know a lot about.
They have won four out of the
last 10 [best picture] Academy
Awards. And we are backing
them 100 percent because they
make terrific movies with very
renowned filmmakers with
great casts.But not all of the Searchlight
movies will get theatrical
releases, right?
HORN Oh, I think they will, yeah.Let’s talk about China because
we have seen flare-ups in this
battle between free speech and
appeasing the Chinese govern-
ment. What is the censorship
limit for Hollywood? Alan, the
star of your upcoming Mulan
picture voiced support for Hong
Kong police, which sparked a
#BoycottMulan movement.
HORN First of all, if Mulan doesn’t
work in China, we have a problem.
But my feeling is that free speech
is an important component of
our society, and folks ought to be
able to say what they want to say.
And I can’t speak for what Yifei
Liu says in China, and we didn’t
know what she was going to say.
We try to be nonpolitical. There is
always an issue somewhere in the
world, and China happens to be a
very, very big market, but it’s not
the only market where there have
been issues. The only thing I have
said to the folks that work with
me is to keep in mind that when
you speak, [the media will quote
you]. And that carries with it a
certain responsibility. Be sen-
sible and think before you speak.
Especially on social media.Does it bother you that your movies
can’t offend China?
HORN No. We are making mov-
ies that are designed to be seen
by an appreciative audience
[everywhere]. We don’t wish to
be political. And to get dragged
into a political discussion, I would
argue, is sort of inherently unfair.
We are not politicians.
GIANOPULOS I think there is also
a difference between pander-
ing and cultural sensitivity. You
know, there is a big spotlight on
China because of its growing
global dominance and because
of the limitations on press and
freedoms in the country. But
Malaysia, other parts of the world,
India, we have been censoring
movies for years [there] just to
address the concerns of indi-
vidual markets. When you do it in
China it becomes pandering.Donna, Fast & Furious is so big
there, I’m guessing there won’t
be a Chinese villain in a future
Fast movie.
LANGLEY We run a business.
We have to be sensitive to
important markets.Stuber