This morning came the news from NBCUniversal CEO Jeff Shell that “Trolls World Tour” was a major success on premium VOD, the film pulling in around $100 million in rental sales in its first three weeks.
On top of that, the studio’s cut of the revenue surpassed their cut for the entire five-month domestic theatrical run of the first film. Shell told The Wall Street journal: “The results for Trolls World Tour have exceeded our expectations and demonstrated the viability of PVOD. As soon as theaters reopen, we expect to release movies on both formats.”
Now the country’s top cinema organization, The National Association of Theatre Owners, is fighting back and responded with its own statement saying outcome should not be interpreted as a sign of a ‘new normal’ in Hollywood. NATO president and CEO John Fithian says:
“Universal does not have reason to use unusual circumstances in an unprecedented environment as a springboard to bypass true theatrical releases. Theaters provide a beloved immersive, shared experience that cannot be replicated – an experience that many of the VOD viewers of this film would have participated in had the world not been sequestered at home, desperate for something new to watch with their families. We are confident that when theaters reopen, studios will continue to benefit from the global theatrical box office, followed by traditional home release.”
Wall Street analysts are seemingly agreeing with NATO, saying there is only limited information at present so there’s no way to tell. NATO notes that consumer behavior has seen transactional video in decline with sales dropping from $24.9 billion in 2004 to $9.3 billion in 2019 as subscription VOD services have taken off.
NATO adds that the film’s performance was aided by the fact that Universal marketed it as a theatrical release, not as a VOD title. Universal did not release any preliminary international numbers for the film including the handful of European markets where it is being offered on VOD.
Source: THR
