The suit, filed in Los Angeles, is the latest chapter in a growing battle between those who stand to profit from cinematic releases and Hollywood studios who want to grow their streaming services.

It follows a very public spat between Scarlett Johansson and Disney in which the “Black Widow” star sued for loss of earnings because the film hit Disney+ while it was still in theatres. The two sides later settled out of court.

WarnerMedia, the parent of Warner Bros, released its entire 2021 catalogue on HBO Max, as Hollywood grappled with the pandemic and closed cinemas.

The suit by Village Roadshow Entertainment Group alleges the studio moved “The Matrix Resurrections” release date to 2021 from its originally scheduled 2022 to help drive more subscriptions to HBO Max, according to the “Wall Street Journal”.

“WB’s sole purpose in moving the release date of ‘The Matrix Resurrections’ forward was to create a desperately needed wave of year-end HBO Max premium subscriptions from what it knew would be a blockbuster film,” the suit said.

This was “despite knowing full well that it would decimate the film’s box office revenue, and deprive Village Roadshow of any economic upside that WB and its affiliates would enjoy”.

“The Matrix Resurrections” is the fourth installment of the original reality-or-simulation Keanu Reeves vehicle. By this month it had grossed around US$37 million (RM155 million) at the North American box office.

“The Matrix” by contrast, took US$172 million.