On Saturday night, “Dune” star Timothée Chalamet stepped into the ring in the public battle against Warner Bros.
The studio announced earlier this month that all of its major 2021 movies would release on HBO Max the same day as theaters, in response to the crippling theater shutdown during the COVID-19 pandemic. Filmmakers including Patty Jenkins (“Wonder Woman 1984”), Christopher Nolan (“Tenet”) and Denis Villeneuve (“Dune”) — all of whom directed new Warner Bros. movies — have since expressed skepticism about the pivot to streaming, fearing it could ring the death knell of theatergoing.
Although he didn’t speak about the topic directly, Chalamet seemingly expressed his support for “Dune” production company Legendary Entertainment, which may now sue Warner Bros. over the unprecedented HBO Max deal. The 24-year-old wore a dark Legendary hoodie with the production company’s logo at the end of Saturday’s “SNL” episode, giving a brief speech about how we should all be kind to each other.
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“Uh oh, Timothée Chalamet ended #SNL in a Legendary hoodie,” user @ThomasSteffler wrote. “You’re done now, HBO Max.”
“Timothée Chalamet subtweeting Warner Bros by wearing a Legendary hoodie closing out SNL is a mood,” user maslolz wrote.
Chalamet, who hosted “SNL” with musical guest Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band, is the star of the upcoming sci-fi epic “Dune,” an adaptation of Frank Herbert’s 1965 classic novel. The $165 million movie features a star-studded cast including Zendaya, Josh Brolin, Javier Bardem and Jason Momoa, and follows a young prince (Chalamet) forced to take his place in a war between two galactic royal families. The movie is directed by Villeneuve (“Arrival”), who condemned Warner Bros., in a scathing op-ed in Variety this past week.
“Dune” is one of 17 films that Warner Bros. plans to release on HBO Max for a 31-day window, along with “The Suicide Squad,” “The Matrix 4” and “In the Heights.”
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