Director Doug Liman is boycotting the premiere of his Road House remake to protest the decision to release it on streaming.

The Mr. & Mrs. Smith filmmaker believes his feature, starring Jake Gyllenhaal, should be released in cinemas instead of Prime Video and he intends to prove his point by skipping the movie’s premiere at the South by Southwest (SXSW) festival on 8 March.

In a guest column for Deadline, Liman explained that he signed up to direct a theatrical film for MGM before the studio was acquired by Amazon and he therefore made his film “for the big screen”.

“When Road House opens the SXSW film festival, I won’t be attending. The movie is fantastic, maybe my best, and I’m sure it will bring the house down and possibly have the audience dancing in their seats during the end credits. But I will not be there,” he began.

“My plan had been to silently protest Amazon’s decision to stream a movie so clearly made for the big screen. But Amazon is hurting way more than just me and my film. If I don’t speak up about Amazon, who will? So here we go.”

Liman claimed that Road House has proved popular with test audiences, has “ground-breaking” action sequences, a “career-defining performance” from Gyllenhaal, and a memorable fight between the actor and UFC star Conor McGregor.

“What else could I have delivered to the studio? Nothing, it turns out. Because contrary to their public statements, Amazon has no interest in supporting cinemas,” he continued.

“That hurts the filmmakers and stars of Road House who don’t share in the upside of a hit movie on a streaming platform. And they deprive Jake Gyllenhaal – who gives a career-best performance – the opportunity to be recognized come award season.”

The Bourne Identity director claimed that putting “tentpole movies” like Road House on streaming instead of in theatres is damaging to the cinema industry.

“We tried everything to convince them to put Road House in theaters – they know all the arguments I presented here. I even asked them to allow me to sell Road House to another studio that would put it in theaters – they said no,” he stated.

Road House, a remake of the 1989 film starring Patrick Swayze, is due to be released on Prime Video on 21 March.

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