You can remember Masters of the Universe came out in theaters in June without really making much of a splash, but blew up when it landed on Prime Video. According to director Travis Knight, this was intentional on the studio’s part, and it’s not something he agrees with.
While talking about his latest film, Wildwoodwith The Hollywood Reporter, Knight said he doesn’t quite understand why Amazon is more focused Masters‘ future audience figures.
“Its life in streaming was much more important to Amazon than its life in theaters,” he said. “It’s not something I understood going into it. I wanted her faith in us as filmmakers and in the film to be rewarded in a way that wasn’t my hopes and expectations.”
Although he has since accepted the result, Ritter is still thinking Masters of the Universe “deserved a better fate than it got.” Theatrically, it earned $113 million worldwide, but again, its streaming numbers were pretty big in July. Within a week of hitting Prime Video, it had 1.17 billion minutes worth of watch time, making it the most watched media in that period. Amazon insiders told THR that the studio will consider “the complementary value of theater and streaming” when it comes time to greenlight projects.
Still, the company has previously been open about how to like movies Masters in the Red One could perform better on the small screen. In that sense, Ritter may have a point – which stopped Masters of the Universe from launch to streaming, especially when a franchise can be born on either big or small screens these days?
Want more io9 news? Check out the best movies and TV shows to stream this month and all the upcoming sci-fi, fantasy and horror books that should be on your radar.