Weeks before filming was due to begin, director Guy Ritchie has left the production of the Jake Gyllenhaal-starring action sequel, Road House 2, reports suggest.
Despite some rather public disagreements behind the scenes, the 2024 remake of Road House – an action thriller vehicle for Jake Gyllenhaal – was a streaming success for Amazon MGM. As a result, the studio fast-tracked a sequel, albeit one without the first film’s director, Doug Liman (more on him shortly).
The prolific British filmmaker Guy Ritchie was announced as Road House 2′s director in May – a logical enough choice, given that several of his recent movies have been distributed by Amazon MGM – Wrath Of Man, Operation Fortune: Ruse de Guerre, Guy Ritchie’s The Covenant and The Ministry Of Ungentlemanly Warfare being among them.
Just a couple of months after Ritchie was attached to Road House 2, however, comes word that he’s left again. Deadline has the report on his departure, and adds that no reason has been offered for the departure as yet. If the story’s accurate, expect a “creative differences” statement to emerge soon. Meanwhile, Amazon MGM is left to find a replacement director; production is due to begin in the autumn, leaving a matter of weeks to strike a deal with another filmmaker.
Given last year’s events, it’s unlikely anyone at the studio will give Doug Liman a call. When the Bourne Identity filmmaker learned that Road House wouldn’t get a cinema release, and would instead go straight onto Prime Video, he went public with his anger over the decision. He wrote a guest column for Deadline, arguing that his film’s positive response from test screenings meant it was perfect for cinemas; instead, he wrote, the studio was “using Road House to sell plumbing fixtures.”
Read more: Road House review | Jake Gyllenhaal is the standout in a boisterous remake
Liman then threatened to boycott the premiere (which he ultimately didn’t) and made a YouTube video with filmmaker Casey Neistat. In it, Liman wore a cowboy hat and talked candidly about his disappointment over Road House's handling. The hat was seemingly a jibe aimed at Amazon boss Jeff Bezos, who Liman filmed riding a horse into a shop in Aspen, Colorado. (Do people often dress as cowboys and ride horses into shops in Colorado, or is it a tech CEO thing? Do let us know, readers.)
“I’m kind of at war with Amazon, and it wasn’t lost on me the difference in scale,” Liman said; “Bezos on his horse with a cowboy hat on… There’s always a man above you.”
For its part, Amazon MGM insisted that Road House's straight-to-streaming strategy was always in place, and that Liman had agreed to it in exchange for an expanded budget. Liman continued to maintain that his film had been “dumped.”
Whatever the truth was, Road House appeared on Prime Video in March 2024 and became one of the platform’s biggest successes, with 80m views in its first two months. As we’ve previously highlighted, the action genre is a favourite among streaming subscribers.
Amazon MGM understandably wants a new Road House in production quickly. Time will tell who it’ll get in to replace Ritchie.
