Doug Liman Is Not Letting Go of His Beef with Amazon Over 'Road House'

Last year, Amazon released the Road House remake straight to streaming, much to the dismay of its director, Doug Liman. Liman was furious that the movie wasn’t getting a theatrical release and threatened to boycott the premiere at the SXSW festival. I was there. He ultimately didn’t boycott the film, but he also didn’t take the stage. He got a standing ovation when star Jake Gyllenhaal gave him a shout-out from the audience.

There was good reason for Liman to be upset, too. Not only was the film made for the big screen, but it would have done well in theaters (it ultimately became the biggest streaming debut in Prime Video history, reaching 80 million worldwide viewers). But because it was released straight to streaming, neither Liman nor Gyllenhaal received any backend compensation, as they’d expected when they made the film for MGM.

So frustrated was Liman that he decided to sit out the sequel, which is now being directed by Ilya Naishuller (Nobody, Heads of State). Gyllenhaal will return, joined by Dave Bautista and Aldis Hodge.

But Liman hasn’t washed his hands of Road House. According to Deadline, he’s quietly bought the rights to the original sequel to author R. Lance Hill’s novel, Road House: Dylan. That’s some deliciously petty fun.

There are some legal issues involved, however, which makes it even more entertaining. R. Lance Hill claims that, because he wrote it as a spec script, he retains the rights under Section 203 of the U.S. Copyright Act. There’s some complicated legal maneuvering at play, but Liman probably thinks Hill can win the case—and he may have even sought advice from his brother, Lewis Liman, a judge who also happens to be overseeing the Blake Lively/Justin Baldoni case.

Whether Liman succeeds or not, and whether there end up being two Road House sequels, one thing is for sure: Liman has created a huge headache for Amazon. And really, isn’t that what petty feuds are all about?