Universal to Bring New Theatrical Releases to VOD

The Invisible Man, The Hunt, Trolls World Tour, and more theatrical releases from Universal will soon be available to watch in the privacy of your own home, as the company is bringing many of their theatrical movies to video-on-demand services with so many potential ticket buyers stuck at home because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

As reported by The Hollywood Reporter, NBCUniversal is making this decision based on movie theaters shutting down in New York and Los Angeles, with many more closures expected to come in the near future. The studio’s response to bring their new movies to more people who can’t see it on the big screen is to make some of their theatrical releases available in the U.S. for a suggested retail price of $19.99 for a 48-hour rental period.

“Given the rapidly evolving and unprecedented changes to consumers’ daily lives during this difficult time, the company felt that now was the right time to provide this option in the home as well as in theaters. NBCUniversal will continue to evaluate the environment as conditions evolve and will determine the best distribution strategy in each market when the current unique situation changes,” the company said in a statement.

Movies made available to watch on demand include Universal’s The Hunt and The Invisible Man along with the Focus Features film Emma. The upcoming animated film from DreamWorks, Trolls World Tour, will also be available to watch on VOD on the same day it opens in theaters on April 10. The films currently playing in theaters offered for the VOD rentals are said to be available to rent as early as this Friday. Other titles to be released early on VOD have yet to be revealed.

Now, it remains to be seen if other companies will follow suit, as several other films have been postponed from their original theatrical releases because of the pandemic. As for the $20 price tag to watch the movies at home, this really isn’t a bad deal at all, considering movie theater ticket prices and a snack will easily put you over that amount if you go out. It’s also going to be nice to watch new releases at home, although the circumstances of how we got here are certainly rather terrible.

Stay tuned for more updates.

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