One Of Matt Damon’s Best Movies Went Straight To HBO For A Sad But Valid Reason

In what world do two A-list actors and an Oscar-winning director come together to have difficulty securing financing for a mid-budget film? Which we’re living in right now, and that’s exactly what happened when Matt Damon (“Good Will Hunting”) and Michelle Douglas (“Fataltraction”) teamed up with director Steven Soderbergh (“Traffic”) for the Liberace biopic, Beyond the Candelabra. It remains one of Damon, Douglas and Soderbergh’s best-reviewed films, but it went straight to HBO instead of theaters. This begs the question: why?

Released in 2013, the film focuses on world-famous pianist Liberace (Douglas) and his relationship with the much younger Scott Thorson (Damon). Their relationship becomes more complicated when Liberace takes other lovers, and Thorson becomes addicted to drugs. Earlier this year, The New York Times named “Behind the Candelabra” one of the best films of the 21st century.

As for why a film of this quality was not able to secure financing through Hollywood studios and receive a theatrical release? In a 2019 interview with The Talks, Damon clarified the situation. Here’s what he had to say about it:

“I remember when we were in Cannes with ‘Behind the Candelabra,’ and I talked to the head of the studio and asked him why he turned it down. Every studio passed on this movie, and we ended up casting it at HBO. It was $25 million,” he said. [film]and then I have to put $25 million into P&A. Then I have to split it with an exhibitor, and the theater chain gets half. So, you have to make $100 million before I get a penny from this movie; I have to risk 50. I love Stephen [Soderbergh]Michael [Douglas]And you, but this is a real gamble.”

“That’s why movies like this either get on TV or don’t get made,” Damon concluded. “It’s all been happening. This is another shift in perspective. It’s just a different business.”

As Damon points out, calculating box office success (or failure) isn’t as easy as taking the production budget and matching it to ticket sales. Theaters need to cut it. Marketing is expensive. That means a $25 million project needs $100 million at the global box office just to break even, give or take.

In this case, the studios didn’t see this as a worthwhile risk, even 12 years ago. In a 2013 interview with The Wrap, Soderbergh explained, from his perspective, why everyone in Hollywood turned down the opportunity to finance the film:

“No one could make it. We went to everyone in town. We needed $5 million. No one would do it. They said it was too gay. Everyone. This was after Brokeback Mountain, by the way. And it’s not as funny as that movie. I was stunned. It didn’t make sense to any of us.”

This mentality has deepened in Hollywood in recent years. The global box office has not fully recovered from the pandemic, and unless a streaming service steps in, it’s hard to imagine a film like this getting the green light today. It was difficult then. It may be harder to get it into theaters now. Although Damon starred in the Best Picture-winning “Oppenheimer,” which grossed nearly $1 billion, that may not be enough to launch a project like this, assuming he and the other creators involved want to secure a theatrical release.

You can watch “Behind the Candelabra” on HBO Max.