Universal Pictures to offer $19.99 online rentals for some new movies, currently in theaters, and do the same for an upcoming DreamWorks film on its release day
In light of the movie theaters being brought to a standstill, Universal Pictures is changing the game.
The StreamableJason Gurwin
Context & Ripple Effects
Day-and-date home releases have been pitched before and rejected: Sean Parker's Screening Room proposed $50 opening-day rentals back in 2016, and studios were still only discussing sub-45-day VOD windows as recently as 2017. What changed is that theaters went dark — with no box office to protect, Universal can test the once-taboo model at half the proposed price.
The move also sets up Universal's own downstream pipeline: films rented at $19.99 today flow into the Peacock pay-one window Universal and DreamWorks negotiated for 2022, so the studio keeps the audience inside its own ecosystem rather than handing it to exhibitors.
First-order effects
Exhibitors lose the exclusivity that justifies their cut: Universal collects the full $19.99 on films currently playing in theaters, including a DreamWorks title on its actual release day, while cinema owners earn nothing from those transactions.
Second-order effects
AMC, which had just launched its own AMC Theaters On Demand store renting catalog titles for $3-$6, now faces a supplier going direct at a premium price point — and responded within months by signing the 17-day window agreement that trades a shortened exclusive run for a share of premium VOD revenue.
Third-order effects
If the pattern holds, the roughly 90-day theatrical exclusive stops being an industry default and becomes a negotiable term per studio — with premium VOD pricing ($19.99 versus the $30-$50 once floated) acting as the bridge between ticket sales and subscription windows like Peacock's.
The trend: Theatrical release windows are compressing from months-long studio-wide norms toward per-deal terms, accelerated by crisis-era day-and-date rentals and settled in revenue-share agreements with exhibitors.
I don't think they'll be able to walk this back. The gap between theatrical release and home release has seemed increasingly artificial and gotten smaller, and this will kill it. It's a frivolous thing but it seems to be a clear instance of this crisis changing something forever …
Is there a family who won't be buying “Trolls” on PPV? Theaters have long said that once studios are allowed to speed new films into homes there will be no going back. But the chains can't hold the line any longer. News and analysis w/ @nicsperling https://www.nytimes.com/...
Sad that it took a pandemic to change the movie industry but this is something I've wanted for a while. Universal will let you stream movies at home on their theater release date. For way more $$$ than a typical rental, of course https://thestreamable.com/...
I wonder if Universal will give exhibitors a piece of this. (Exhibitor pushback has long been a hold up for day-and-date releases.) https://twitter.com/...
This is not a good will gesture. This is a Hollywood studio trying to recoup lost revenue due to closed theaters. Just setting things straight. https://twitter.com/...
NBCUniversal will also make movies that are currently in theatrical release available on-demand starting as early as Friday, March 20 — including Universal's #TheHunt and #TheInvisibleMan, as well as Focus Features' #Emma https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/ ...
AMC Theatres, the nation's largest movie chain, says it will close all theaters nationwide for six to 12 weeks in response to the coronavirus pandemic https://www.chicagotribune.com/ ...
That's right folks - due to...um...things happening in the world, we are releasing @TheInvisibleMan for streaming this Friday. So those who wanted to catch it in theatres but couldn't will be able to view it from the safety of their biohazard containment zones (couch or bed). xo …
Very seriously thinking about watching The Invisible Man this weekend. $20 is a lot to pay for a movie, but I'm essentially watching an in-theaters film at home which is the option I've been begging studios to give me. https://twitter.com/...
Update: AMC, Landmark, Alamo, Showcase, and other cinema chains are joining Regal in shutting down their movie theaters nationwide due to coronavirus concerns https://www.polygon.com/...