According to director Will Gluck, studios wanted anything but “Anyone But You” in theaters.
Gluck told The Hollywood Reporter that while he received numerous streaming offers for the original rom-com starring Glen Powell and Sydney Sweeney, he had to “convince” studios to even entertain a theatrical release. Thankfully, Gluck’s longtime partnership with Columbia led to the film opening in theaters. The rest is history — and profit.
“It was a little bit of a battle to convince everybody,” Gluck said. “I just had to explain how good the people in the movie are and how impactful a theatrical experience could be.”
Gluck previously directed adaptations of “Annie” and “Peter Rabbit” for Columbia. He also helmed several projects for Columbia’s sister label Screen Gems, including the beloved “Easy A.”
“Anyone But You” went on to gross $88 million domestically against a $25 million budget. The film earned $220.2 million at the worldwide box office. After the feature became a box-office hit, its success continued with home viewing, in part thanks to a viral marketing campaign led by lead stars Powell and Sweeney.
Gluck credited Sony Pictures Motion Picture Group chairman and chief executive Tom Rothman, who also oversees Columbia, for being a guiding light for the feature as a whole.
“There’s no one better to sit down with than Tom [Rothman] to talk about your movie script,” Gluck said. “Your script and your movie get better. I’m not just saying that. It gets better.”
Rothman told the New York Times that a rom-com like “Anyone But You” has to have the perfect combination of star power and buzz to do well in theaters.
“You’ve got to get the ingredients in the meal just right: the story, the cast, the filmmakers, the chemistry, the ending,” Rothman said, adding that making any rom-com “is a delicate task. So, if you’re going to make one and go for it theatrically, it better be good.”
Gluck isn’t the only filmmaker to address the “battle” of being in theaters instead of straight to streaming. Doug Liman and Paul Feig have also recently spoken out about streaming-only releases.
“Road House” director Liman has said that his feature was originally supposed to be a MGM release in theaters prior to Amazon buying MGM; Amazon has maintained that Liman, “Road House” actor Jake Gyllenhaal, and the film’s producers were given a choice between a a $60 million budget for a theatrical release or an $85 million budget for streaming, and that the team chose the latter.
Meanwhile, Feig recently told IndieWire that despite “A Simple Favor 2” being announced as a Prime-Video release like “Road House,” the film might still land a theatrical run.
“Well, we don’t know [if it will only be streaming],” Feig told IndieWire. “There’s a chance it could be in theaters. I think [streaming is] the path it’s on, but you never know.”
He added, “Never say never, because I’m a big theater guy. But I love being on streamers, too. I just love being able to make movies.”
