Not looking good for the box office
Emailed on May 1st 2020 in The Friday Forward
The pandemic has fundamentally changed how people are watching films. With movie theaters shuttered since mid-March, consumers are turning to streaming and on-demand services.
For the most part, movie studios have opted to postpone theatrical releases until cinemas reopen, but a few films have decided to skip the big screen and head straight to people’s homes. And it seems to be paying off.
Universal’s “Trolls World Tour” became available as a digital rental on April 10 for $19.99. Three weeks later, it had racked up nearly $100 million in rentals.
Theaters typically take about 50% of box office sales, depending on the deal that was struck with the studio. So, “Trolls” only deposited around $77 million into Universal’s pocket by the end of its run in North America.
For comparison, Universal retained about 80% of the digital rental or purchase fee for “Trolls World Tour.” Which means that “Trolls World Tour” has made more for Universal in its first 3 weeks than "Trolls" did during its entire box office tenure.
