Another major studio is facing a lawsuit over the day-and-date releases of a highly anticipated title. Village Roadshow Films, which co-produced The Matrix Resurrections with Warner Bros., is suing WarnerMedia for releasing the film on HBO Max the same day it debuted in theaters.
The lawsuit, filed today in Los Angeles Superior Court, alleges that WarnerMedia “rushed” the release of The Matrix Resurrections from 2022 to 2021 so that the film could debut as part of an internally coded initiative known as “Project Popcorn.” This release model would trade box office revenue for streaming subscriptions, depriving partners of revenue tied to the film’s performance.
