Ticker: Barney Frank sues builder for unfinished home; Warner Bros. to stream all 2021 films

Former U.S. Rep. Barney Frank and his husband, James Ready, are suing a construction contractor who they said abandoned the building of their home in Maine.

Shaun Madden Contracting walked off the job in May after completing a little more than $200,000 worth of work, Frank and James Ready said in their lawsuit filed on Wednesday, the Bangor Daily News reported.

The couple paid $350,000 upfront for the construction of the home in Wells, Maine, the lawsuit states. They say Madden has returned $50,000, but they are asking a judge to order him to repay them more than $120,000, in part because he sited the home too close to a road, the newspaper reported.

Madden did not immediately return the newspaper’s request for comment.

Frank, 80, served 16 terms in Congress as a representative of Massachusetts and was the first member to come out as gay in 1987. He and Ready married in 2012.

Warner Bros. to stream all 2021 films

Warner Bros. Pictures on Thursday announced that all of its 2021 film slate — including a new “Matrix” movie, “Godzilla vs. Kong” and the Lin-Manuel Miranda adaptation “In the Heights” — will stream on HBO Max at the same time they play in theaters.

Films will debut simultaneously in theaters and on HBO Max in the U.S. After one month, they will stop streaming and continue to play only in theaters. Among the myriad release plan changes wrought by the pandemic, no studio has so fully embraced streaming as a lifeline.

The move follows Warner Bros.’ decision to put “Wonder Woman 1984” on HBO Max next December, along with a concurrent theatrical run. If that pivot sent shockwaves through the industry, Thursday’s announcement rattled Hollywood to the core.

“Given the unprecedented time that we’re in, we needed a creative solution to address our fans, our filmmakers and our exhibitors,” said Ann Sarnoff, chief executive of WarnerMedia Studios. “Big and bold is a necessity right now.”

Sarnoff called it a “temporary solution” and a “one-year plan.” The studio said other options — releasing big-budget films solely in reduced capacity theaters or delaying films another year — weren’t appealing.

from Boston Herald https://ift.tt/2L7QD2D