Russo Bros. Stand by Netflix Model: The idea that "theater is a sacred space is bullshit"

The Russo Brothers have officially entered the debate between streaming and theaters, weighing in on the "crisis" facing Hollywood due to a "culture war" over the way movies are made and broadcast.

“We are in crisis right now because everyone is at war with each other,” Joe Russo said while promoting the release of Netflix’s “The Gray Man,” which opened its doors. doors today in select theaters ahead of its July 22 streaming premiere. "It's sad to see, like guys who grew up loving movies. One thing to remember too is that it's an elitist notion of being able to go to the theatre. It's very expensive. So this the idea that has been created — which we cling to — that the theater is a sacred space is bullshit. And he rejects the idea of ​​allowing everyone to enter the tent.”

Joe Russo continued, "Where digital distribution is valuable, besides what I said earlier about how it has fostered diversity, is that people can share accounts; they can get 40 stories for the price of one story. But having some sort of culture war over whether it's worth it or not is crap for us."

While Anthony Russo explained that $200 million "The Gray Man" was made for a theater: "That's how we shot it, how we styled it and, on the technically, how we supported it" - Joe shared that the duo is indifferent to the delivery method.

"When we worked with Marvel, we traveled the world for a decade," said Joe Russo, who made four films with his brother for the MCU. “What it allows you is an understanding that goes beyond a Hollywood-centric view of how to create content. We are delivery agnostic. You know what could make everyone happy is that Netflix is ​​starting to do 45 day windows and they have their giant digital distribution platform. Everybody wins. It feels like it's going where it's going."

He also suggested that the film world needs to move beyond an old-fashioned reverence for the 'auteur' model of cinema - recalling how directors like Martin Scorsese and Francis Ford Coppola dispelled the Marvel production in the recent past.< /p>

“Arthouse cinema is 50 years old at this point. It was conceived in the 70s,” Joe Russo said. “We grew up on it. us. But we are also aware that the world has to change and the more we try to prevent it from changing, the more chaos we create. It is not for anyone to reject the ideas of the next generation."

"We love everything about classic cinema, but we've never been valuable about it in any way," Anthony Russo said, adding that the brothers aren't valuable to theatrical distribution either. . “How to move away from the old models? How do you reach audiences that have never been engaged before? That's all we care about the most."

Reflecting on their Marvel legacy and partnership with Disney, Joe Russo added that Netflix has been a breath of fresh air.

“Disney has become very conservative,” he said. “After [Bob] Iger, they seem to be in IP management mode. You're going to get all the "Star Wars" and all the Marvels you can handle in the next decade. They all change. It's either a hardened conservative approach to your traditional studios, or it forces a tech company like Netflix to rethink their entire model."

Former CEO Iger announced in February 2020 that he would step down from his leadership role to become Executive Chairman. Former Disney Parks, Experiences and Product Manager Bob Chapek has become CEO.

Joe Russo added that it was "easier to work with Netflix than with a traditional studio" because their approach is "more like a tech company mentality than a studio".

"They're very passive. No one bothers you," he said. "They have a different approach to how they control the film budget. It's not as stressful as in a studio ."

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