Joel Coen Discusses “Macbeth” And Streaming Releases

The Coen Brothers are responsible from some of the most versatile and interesting projects to pop up in Hollywood over the last several decades, from Netflix’s The Ballad of Buster Scruggs to cult classics like The Big Lebowski and Fargo. However, the pair have taken a little co-directing break, with Joel Coen handling The Tragedy of Macbeth solo.

The A24 and Apple project had its world premiere at the New York Film Festival last week and is already being hailed as a major awards contender. The reviews for the film quickly began to pour in and, as of this writing, it currently sits at 100% on Rotten Tomatoes.

The cinematography is being lauded, as is the inventive use of minimalist sets and black-and-white visuals. Moreover, the actor’s performances are said to be pitch perfect and this is supposedly a film that is begging to be seen on the big screen, so that audiences can take in the full scale of elegant grandeur on display.

However, that will be a bit of an issue, as the movie is heading to Apple+ after only a brief and limited theatrical release. This is just another in a long line of releases that industry heavyweights decry should be a cinema-exclusive but is seemingly rushed onto a streaming platform.

And while the clash between traditional releases and streaming services is still a hot topic, Coen spoke with Indiewire about the release strategy and his opinions on home viewing, stating:

When I first got into the movie business, it’s been almost forty years ago. The reason I was able to make movies with Ethan, the reason we were able to have a career, is because the studios at that point had an ancillary market that was a backstop for more risky films, which were VHS cassettes and all of these home video markets, which is essentially television. So, the fact that those markets are sort of responsible for my career… I’m not gonna bust on them now because they’ve become very successful, you know, and they’re sort of overtaking the market. I mean, it’s the reason I’m here, and able to do this. So, I have mixed feelings about it, obviously, which is, the first thing, you want people to see it on a big screen. But the other part of it is, that’s been part of the history of our movies since the very beginning.

While this doesn’t settle things, it’s interesting to see the perspective of someone whose career was so affected by home media. The Tragedy of Macbeth will debut in theaters in the U.S. on Christmas Day ahead on January 14th release on Apple+.