With theaters closed, movies shift recent releases to on-demand services
Coming soon to a theater near you? Your guess is as good as theirs.
With movie theaters closed because of the coronavirus pandemic and most of Hollywood’s March and April releases already postponed, Walt Disney Co. this week cleared out its May releases as well, including Marvel’s “Black Widow.”
The movie, one of the most anticipated of the season, had been set to open May 1. Marvel movies have for years been the regular kickoff to the summer movie going season.
Disney also put off the releases of “David Copperfield (May 8) and “The Woman in the Window” (May 15).
Meanwhile, other movies are speeding from theaters to the small screen. Earlier this week, Universal Pictures said it was making its current and upcoming films available for on-demand rental, becoming the first major studio to break the traditional theatrical window of 90 days due to the pandemic.
The studio said it was putting the movies it had in theaters — “Invisible Man,” “The Hunt,” “Emma”– up for rental via digital and on-demand services as early as Friday. It also said that “Trolls World Tour,” one of the few major releases left on the April calendar, will debut in theaters and on-demand services simultaneously. Meanwhile, Sony announced Wednesday that the Vin Diesel comic-book movie “Bloodshot,” which opened in theaters March 13, will be available on demand March 24.
Over the weekend, Disney made “Frozen II” and “Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker” available on Disney Plus, its new streaming service; the releases were in the ballpark of the 90-day window, but earlier than the studio had planned.
Universal’s move could be seen as either a watershed moment for Hollywood or an aberration due to extreme circumstances. With few exceptions, the major studios have guarded the 90-day exclusivity window even as digital newcomers like Netflix and Amazon have challenged it.
For the studios, box office still is the primary revenue generator. Last week, the Motion Picture Association said worldwide ticket sales reached $42.2 billion last year.
So far, Hollywood’s major upcoming releases aren’t currently heading for the home; they’re being held for when theaters reopen. Paramount Pictures’ “A Quiet Place Part II,” earlier slated for release Friday, has been removed from the schedule. Disney’s “Mulan” and the James Bond film “No Time to Die” have been put off. Universal earlier pushed its latest “Fast and Furious” movie, “F9,” from late May to April of next year.
The theaters could use them. Last weekend, ticket sales plunged to their lowest levels in at least 20 years at U.S. and Canadian theaters. Not since a quiet September weekend in 2000 has weekend box-office revenue been so low, according to data firm Comscore.
New movie releases on demand this week
In addition to the titles that Universal rushed to digital release Friday (“Emma,” “The Hunt” and “The
Invisible Man”), here are some of the new movies available on demand and via digital services like Amazon starting March 24.
“Harley Quinn: Birds of Prey”: In DC Comics’ girlpower action movie, Margot Robbie reprises her title villain with a heart of gold leading a group of female fighters against an egomaniacal thug played by Ewen McGregor.
“The Gentlemen”: Guy Ritchie returns to over-thetop comic action a la his breakthrough movie “Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels” in this tale of an American marijuana magnate in London (Matthew McConaughey) who finds himself at the center of a small war. Charlie Hunnam, Hugh Grant, Colin Farrell and Henry Golding head a colorful cast.
“Dolittle”: Robert Downey Jr. went all in in this effects-filled reboot of the children’s story about the doctor who can, you know, talk to the animals.
“Clemency”: Alfre Woodard collected raves for her performance as a prison warden with a prisoner (Aldis Hodge) headed to the electric chair who maybe shouldn’t be.
“Bloodshoot”: Vin Diesel is a reluctant super-soldier who decides he doesn’t want the job, or at least his employers, in this action movie based on an indie comic book.
“The Song of Names”: Tim Roth and Clive Owen star in this drama about a man who goes searching for a childhood friend who, on the night of his important debut as a concert violinist, simply vanished, against the backdrop of the the start of World War II.