Viggo Mortensen called out Amazon in an interview with Vanity Fair magazine for the company’s decision to scrap an extensive theatrical release for Ron Howard’s 2022 movie “ Thirteen Lives ” and give it a global streaming launch instead. Mortensen, who starred in the well-reviewed Thai cave rescue thriller opposite Colin Farrell and Joel Edgerton, said the film was a “really good movie” that MGM intended to give a full blown theatrical release to after “they did their test screenings for that movie and got the highest scores in the history of that studio.” “They were going to put it out worldwide in many, many, many thousands of theaters,” Mortensen said.
“Then Amazon bought MGM, initially promised to respect the deal that MGM had made with Ron Howard, and then they went back on that. Basically you saw that movie for a week in Chicago, New York and LA, London, and that was that. Then you had the streaming, which I thought was really sad.
It’s a really well-shot movie.” “Thirteen Lives” opened in select theaters on July 29, 2022 and launched on Prime Video on Aug. 5, 2022.
The movie earned solid reviews, with many critics comparing the film favorably to Howard’s previous ticking-clock survival thriller “Apollo 13.” “They have all their excuses for why they did that, but it comes down to greed,” Mortensen said about Amazon. “How much money do you need? I think Amazon could certainly have respected the deal, as they said they were going .
