Wolfs is the Jon Watts film starring George Clooney and Brad Pitt. It will soon premiere at the Venice Film Festival and Clooney and Pitt will go all-out at the Venice premiere. Pitt might even walk his first red carpet with Inez de Ramon. All eyes will be on Venice because not only will Wolfs premiere there, but Angelina Jolie’s Oscar-bait film Maria is also scheduled to premiere, and Angelina will likely show up too. So, that was supposed to be the buzz/controversy. The problem? Wolfs was produced by AppleTV+ and the initial plan was to give Wolfs a full theatrical release before putting it on streaming. That plan changed this month, and now Wolfs is only getting a limited theatrical release for just ONE WEEK before it’s put on steaming. LMAO. I mean, I was going to skip it too (mute challenge both Clooney and Pitt) but this is too rich.

Three years ago, Hollywood started buzzing about an untitled movie project getting shopped around town, written and directed by Jon Watts and set to star George Clooney and Brad Pitt. Every studio in town was reportedly bidding on the film, and eventually, when Apple secured the distribution rights, a priority in the plan was made clear: a “robust theatrical release,” as Deadline put it. That was woven into the deal between the filmmakers and the studio, with Sony Pictures later attached to handle theatrical distribution. Just last year, Clooney said, “Brad and I made the deal to do that movie where we gave money back to make sure that we had a theatrical release.” And when the film, later titled Wolfs, was announced to make its world premiere at this year’s Venice Film Festival, everything seemed to have fallen into place along those lines.

Plans, however, can change fast in Hollywood. Earlier this month, Apple announced that Wolfs’ wide theatrical release had been canceled, with plans instead to put it out on a handful of big screens for just a week before streaming it on Apple TV+ starting September 27. Across the Atlantic, plans for theater runs were scrapped entirely. This wasn’t for lack of faith in the movie, exactly, as the studio confirmed plans to make a sequel in the same breath.

Speaking with Vanity Fair in the aftermath of the pivot, Watts says in no uncertain terms that he made this movie for the big screen—and that’s evident in the final product. Watts is careful with his words as to his own feelings around the current release situation, but confirms he found out about the change only days before the rest of the world did. He also makes clear where his priorities are. “What it really takes is for the people that pay for the movies to back theatrical distribution,” he says. “It’s not up to the filmmakers. Filmmakers have been making great movies.”

“When we initially made the deal, when I was pitching it to everyone, that was before the last Spider-Man came out. So that was when the entire existential future of theatrical movie going was still up in the air. From that point on, the theatrical experience has really made an impression on me, of how valuable this thing is and how important it is. I always thought of this as a theatrical movie. We made it to be seen in theaters, and I think that’s the best way to see it. It’s funny. It’s filled with twists and turns. I tried to do some interesting things visually and I still think that the best way to see it is in theaters.”

[From Vanity Fair]

Granted, a lot of films, actors and filmmakers are getting screwed over by last-minute decisions to bury a film or not give a film a theatrical release. This is not some outlier situation these days in Hollywood. But it’s still brutal and it’s still funny. Brad and George thought they were promoting a buddy-comedy/action movie which would give them both a much-needed hit. Instead, their big reunion project has been shuffled off to streaming at the last minute. George is too old, he should step down from Hollywood, he doesn’t have the juice anymore. Brad’s been juiceless since he terrorized and abused his family in 2016.

Photos courtesy of Backgrid, cover courtesy of GQ.