Best Picture Nominee Drive My Car Streaming On HBO Max In March
The widely acclaimed Japanese drama film Drive My Car will arrive on HBO Max in March. Directed by Happy Hour filmmaker Ryusuke Hamaguchi, Drive My Car is a feature-length adaptation of a story from novelist Haruki Murakami's 2014 collection of short stories, Men Without Women. The story focuses on the life and career of actor and theatre director Yūsuke Kafuku (Hidetoshi Nishijima) as he attempts to helm a multi-lingual stage show of Anton Chekhov's play Uncle Vanya, while fighting some personal demons after the death of his beloved wife, Oto (Reika Kirishima). Drive My Car has won millions of hearts worldwide, with critics and audiences lauding the film for its engrossing and exalting drama. It is extensively regarded as one of the best films of 2021, and at the upcoming 94th Academy Awards, the movie will be competing in the races for Best Picture, Best Director, Best International Feature Film, and Best Adapted Screenplay.
Drive My Car had its world premiere at the 2021 Cannes Film Festival, and now the movie has also found a streaming home in the US in the form of HBO Max. Deadline reports that Warnermedia OneFifty has acquired the streaming rights for Drive My Car, and now the film will premiere on its dedicated streamer, HBO Max, on March 2, 2022. The report additionally notes that negotiations for the acquisition have only recently materialized at HBO Max.
As the well-deserved Oscars nods continue to strengthen Drive My Car's box office performance, the new move by WB and HBO Max allows greater accessibility to the groundbreaking masterpiece, that was previously disadvantaged by geographical constraints. As the film arrives on the Warner Media-backed streamer, it will inspire and foster a loyal base of American audiences, and at the same time allow its incredible art form to be appreciated in the West. For HBO Max too, the move is a win-win situation, as it not only diversifies its content library to cater to different viewing needs but acts as a foundation for the strategy to enter Asian markets in the future.
Source: Deadline