The digital revolution also changed that 90 day time frame a bit. While the physical medium still usually hits shelves right at about 3 months after a theatrical release, the digital download has a standard 2 week advance debut. There are even instances I have seen a 3 or 4 week advance in certain special occasions for a digital release. I do believe that the rising costs of going to an actual movie theater and how that has gone from a leisure activity to a very specific planned family outing, are really providing much more of a laissez-faire approach toward leaving the house to go catch a flick and simply waiting for the digital copy to become available. Sure, there’s still plenty of folks heading to the multiplex for the big releases at prime weekend times. But outside of some of the high traffic times, theaters are not strangers to slow nights and nearly empty screenings during the weekdays. Even with pricing incentives, there’s many time that a weekday showing is sparsely attended, if not empty entirely. So the appeal and application of digital media in our modern age has definitely found a ranking for movie fans.
Let me circle back to the point I was making with Universal Studios, now that I’ve danced all the way around the birth of the Video On Demand (VOD) release. While some studios are simply prolonging their formal release of movies to later in the year, Universal has brought a bit of a game changer to the table. They are taking their first run flicks, typically reserved for a Thursday-Sunday opening weekend in an actual theater, and sending them straight to streaming devices for rental in this time of uncertainty. There have been a handful of attempts at something like this in recent years. I remember reading about one or two studios dabbling in the idea of simultaneous release of theatrical and home digital rental. The problem was the exorbitant cost of the digital rental. If memory serves correct, the initial rental fees were somewhere around $50 or north depending on the film. I didn’t pay too much notice as the reality of it seemed ridiculous, especially to someone who greatly enjoys catching a big release in a crowded theater on an opening Friday or Saturday night. There’s just something about enjoying a movie in that kind of prepped and primed crowd that adds something to the experience. Its a certain kind of magical. But while those efforts had failed in the past, this present environment of social distancing and the daily shut down of more and more “non-essential” businesses paved the way for the digital rental of first run films to find an interesting new home.
I can say that presently I have purchased the latest Disney/Pixar entry, “Onward” for my digital collection. Not only can we NOT go see these movies in theaters, but also with self-quarantine so high on the list of to-do’s for everyone, we are all cooped up inside much of the time and need ways to watch time pass. Universal blazed the trail by announcing several of their current and upcoming releases would not be delayed but presented for in home viewing. 48 hour rentals would be made available at the regular opening day of the film for a modest $19.99. While I’ve seen some individuals object to this price point, which is clearly higher than even some of the more extreme ticket sales across the nation for a single ticket, this is definitely quite a financial flex for families. Universal put heavy emphasis on their upcoming Trolls sequel set for an April release and with many parents home for one reason or another and schools and daycares closed down, the kids are home as well. So $20 for the family to get to catch a brand new flick in the comfort of their own home that entertains the kiddos is a big deal. I do think we will see some of the biggest movement on this digital front with the Trolls movie. I’ve not looked at any of the Onward digital numbers but anecdotally I do feel like they are helping what was rather poor box office performance otherwise for this film. How this gets reconciled with the mix of what would have been box office dollars and what would have been home video dollars may just be a wash for 2020. But I do applaud the studios for leading the way with providing digital movies for rent in lieu of theatrical releases in what we are coming up on to be the ever encroaching “Summer Movie” season. It used to be for movies that came out in summer. Now it seems that even if you’re late April, you might just get a pass and qualify for the seasonal moniker.
The next wave to follow this new release rental business has come in the last week or so. Despite the typical 90 day home video release window, studios are still cautious to delay the news of home video release. Much of this is due to battling that mental will of getting people to the cinema versus that lackadaisical approach of just waiting for the home video. While myself and some of the other Cinemasters are far more in tune with digital and DVD release schedules, the multitude of casual film goers are relatively oblivious to the time frames by which movies are released both in theaters and on disc/digital. By keeping a lid on the date, it implies that heading to the local theater is the only way to catch a flick if you’re in need of some film therapy. If you knew that it was only a couple weeks away from home release, it would be easy to delay the expenditure at the box office for a much less costly digital rental. One of the adaptations I’ve seen changing on the landscape of movie releases is a much more abbreviated release window for home ownership and not just rental. As of tomorrow both “The Gentlemen” and “Birds of Prey” are finding their way to digital release for home ownership. The physical media will still meet normal release windows but these two movies are just at, and not quite two months old. Ben Affleck’s “The Way Back” joins them in an early digital release. Sonic the Hedgehog, the surprise sweetheart of February, is heading to digital media on March 31st. Thats barely 45 days after its Valentine’s day theatrical release. While I don’t think this shortened window will be one of the tenets that sticks around after theaters start opening back up, it’s definitely noteworthy as it really is a considerable departure from the status quo of home video releases.
The final change I’ve noticed as of late is not a widespread venture just yet but I’m curious to see if it doesn’t catch on more if the quarantine persists into the summer months at all. “Lovebirds” is an upcoming comedy staring Kumail Nanjiani and Issa Rae. While these might not quite be household names just yet, both of these comedic stars are on the rise. Kumail has been appearing in more and more films over the last couple of years and Issa Rae is on her second theatrical release of 2020 with this film. If you don’t know the names, I suggest learning them because these two have a considerable amount of talent and could easily be major names in comedy markets especially in years ahead. Rae’s other feature film opposite Lakeith Stanfield was another Valentine film,”The Photograph”, though much smaller than the aforementioned Sonic the Hedgehog. This one was much more dramatic and romantic in nature. Kumail also has the MCU’s “Eternals” slated to come out this November. So both of these actors will have ever growing plates in the years ahead is my hunch. But their upcoming film “Lovebirds” was set for an April 3 release. Instead, Netflix has negotiated a buyout of this film and will debut it on their streaming service at a later date that is yet to be disclosed. With a great many smaller films that studios already have prepped and ready to go, I would not be surprised to see some of these end up on the auction block for the major streaming services to gobble up and release to gain whatever market share they can. Its a very curious time for movies and their release methods indeed.
Kudos to you if you’ve made it this far with me. I know we covered a lot of ground in this particular write up but there’s a lot to say and know about the developing theatrical landscape of how we will consume movies through the rest of 2020 and which of these new additions to delivery methods will persists beyond the Coronapocalypse and which ones will retire as necessities for a trying time in our country’s history. I am eager to get back in theaters and return to some of the norms that I’m comfortable with but simultaneously I must admit that I’m excited to bring a number of films to my home digital collection a little earlier than I had previously anticipated. So I’ll do my best to stay knowledgeable about developments on the digital front and bring whatever information I can to the people who enjoy our slice of cinema. All this being said, I’ve enjoyed hopefully entertaining you with this read. As always, I’m your Cinemaster to the North, Adam Peterson. I’ll catch you on the flip side.
