Christopher Nolan Calls HBO Max 'Worst Streaming Service,' Rejects WB's Plan For 2021

Christopher Nolan has joined those criticizing Warner Bros’ decision to take its entire 2021 film slate to HBO Max.

The 50-year-old director voiced his opinion on Warner Bros.’s surprising move to release 17 movies simultaneously on the big screen and streaming service, branding HBO Max as the “worst streaming service” out there, The Hollywood Reporter has learned.

“Some of our industry’s biggest filmmakers and most important movie stars went to bed the night before thinking they were working for the greatest movie studio and woke up to find out they were working for the worst streaming service,” the “Tenet” director said.

The movies that will premiere on HBO Max next year include high-end projects like Denis Villeneuve's "Dune," James Gunn's "The Suicide Squad," James Wan-produced "The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It," and Adam Wingard's "Godzilla vs Kong."

Nolan also noted that the production giant doesn’t seem to understand what they are losing by making such a shocking move that makes “no economic sense.”

“Warner Bros. had an incredible machine for getting a filmmaker’s work out everywhere, both in theaters and in the home, and they are dismantling it as we speak. They don’t even understand what they’re losing. Their decision makes no economic sense and even the most casual Wall Street investor can see the difference between disruption and dysfunction,” the Academy Award-nominated director said.

Meanwhile, in another interview with Entertainment Tonight, Nolan shared that he was in complete “disbelief” when he heard the news and called the deal “very, very messy.”

Nolan believes that the way Warner Bros. decided to take all the films to HBO Max is controversial because they did not tell anyone about what they were going to do with the projects related to some of the biggest filmmakers of the current generation.

“In 2021, they've got some of the top filmmakers in the world, they've got some of the biggest stars in the world who worked for years in some cases on these projects very close to their hearts that are meant to be big-screen experiences. They're meant to be out there for the widest possible audiences. And now they're being used as a loss-leader for the streaming service -- for the fledgling streaming service -- without any consultation. So, there’s controversy,” Nolan told Entertainment Tonight.

The acclaimed filmmaker also believes that this plan will not be as successful as Warner Bros. and HBO Max think it will be, insisting that people will surely return to movie theaters to watch their favorite films once the COVID-19 vaccine is rolled out.

“What you have right now in our business is a lot of the use of the pandemic as an excuse for the sort of grappling for short-term advantage. When the vaccine has been rolled out and there's an appropriate health response from the federal government, I'm very bullish on the long-term prospects of the industry. People love going to the movies and they're going to get to go again,” he added.

Nolan and Warner Bros. have been working together since the movie “Insomnia,” which was released in 2002.

Warner Bros. has distributed every single film of Nolan that has come out after 2002, including “The Dark Knight Trilogy,” “The Prestige,” “Inception,” “Interstellar,” “Dunkirk,” and most recently, “Tenet.”