Bored yet? Here is a little relief for you…not to mention for the kids.
Many film studios are releasing their newest movies on VOD or streaming platforms early amid the coronavirus pandemic, which has prompted governments to order theaters and other public places to close, and millions of people to stay at home and practice social distancing.
Universal Studios’ digital offerings include Trolls World Tour and The Hunt.
“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 said in a statement.
“Universal Pictures has a broad and diverse range of movies with 2020 being no exception,” NBCUniversal CEO Jeff Shell said. “Rather than delaying these films or releasing them into a challenged distribution landscape, we wanted to provide an option for people to view these titles in the home that is both accessible and affordable. We hope and believe that people will still go to the movies in theaters where available, but we understand that for people in different areas of the world that is increasingly becoming less possible.”
Disney has already released Frozen II on Disney+ and Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker is available on VOD. Warner Bros. Pictures’ film The Way Back, starring Ben Affleck, was released in theaters earlier this month and will be made available on VOD next week.
See all the movies being released early on VOD and streaming platforms:
Columbia Pictures
Bloodshot
Sony Pictures will release the Vin Diesel film on VOD months early, on March 24.
Warner Bros. Pictures
Birds of Prey: And the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn
Warner Bros. Pictures’ girl-powered Suicide Squad spinoff, which sees Margot Robbie reprise her role of Harley Quinn, will be released on VOD on March 24.
Universal Pictures
Emma
Universal Pictures is releasing Focus Features’ Emma, starring Anya Taylor-Joy, on VOD on March 20. The film will be available for a 48-hour rental period for $19.99.
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YouTube
Frozen II
The 2019 sequel to the hit Disney movie was made available for streaming on Disney+ a few months early, on March 14.
Blumhouse Productions / Universal Pictures
The Hunt
Universal Pictures is releasing Blumhouse Productions’ The Hunt, starring GLOW‘s Betty Gilpin, Hilary Swank and Emma Roberts, on VOD on March 20. The film will be available for a 48-hour rental period for $19.99.
Lionsgate
I Still Believe
Lionsgate will release the biopic starring Riverdale K.J. Apa as Christian singer Jeremy Camp, on VOD on March 27..
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Universal Pictures
The Invisible Man
Universal Pictures is releasing Focus Features’ The Invisible Man, starring Elisabeth Moss, on VOD on March 20. The film will be available for a 48-hour rental period for $19.99.
Disney Pixar
Pixar’s Onward
Disney released the animated film, starring Tom Holland and Chris Pratt, in theaters on March 6 and released it early on VOD on March 20 for $19.99. It will be made available for streaming on Disney+ on April 3.
Paramount Pictures
Sonic the Hedgehog
The animated Paramount Pictures film, starring Ben Schwartz, Jim Carrey and James Marsden, will be released on VOD on March 31, a month and a half after it hit theaters.
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Walt Disney Pictures / Lucasfilm
Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker
Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, the final film in the third and final Star Wars trilogy, was released in theaters in December 2019 and a few days early on VOD on March 13.
Universal Pictures
Trolls World Tour
Universal Pictures is releasing Dreamworks Animation’s Trolls sequel in theaters—where available—and on VOD, on April 10. The film will be available for a 48-hour rental period for $19.99.
Warner Bros. Pictures
The Way Back
The Warner Bros. Pictures movie, starring Ben Affleck, will be released on VOD on March 24, a few weeks after it hit theaters.
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Meanwhile, many movies’ theatrical release dates have been postponed, some indefinitely, with no information on whether or not the films will be released digitally instead. The list includes Disney’s live-action Mulan reboot, its Marvel films Black Widow and The New Mutants and Fox Searchlight’s The Personal History of David Copperfield, Lionsgate’s horror drama Antebellum—starring Janelle Monáe, Paramount’s A Quiet Place Part II—John Krasinski‘s sequel to the hit horror film—and The Lovebirds—starring Issa Rae and Kumail Nanjiani, plus Universal Pictures and Illumination’s Minions: The Rise of Gru, which was supposed to be released in July.
Universal Pictures’ ninth Fast & Furious film F9 will be released on April 2, 2021, nearly a year after it was originally supposed to hit theaters. Sony Pictures is releasing Peter Rabbit 2: The Runaway on August 7 instead of April 3. The release date for Metro-Goldwyn Mayer’s To Time to Die, Daniel Craig‘s last James Bond movie, was postponed from April 10 to November 25.
(E! and Universal Pictures are part of the NBCUniversal family.)
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