Trolls World Tour seems to be making waves.

I have to say…a lot of these movie studios have been a bit disappointing to me. As horrible as the COVID-19 epidemic has been, it seemed like a clear opportunity for them. Rather than rely on theaters for distribution in a theatrical run, they could simply release On Demand for a fairly high price. Yes, there have been some smaller movies to feature an On-Demand release, but nothing too huge. With the exception of Artemis Fowl, which is getting a Disney+ release, most big releases have been pushed.

But there is one fairly large movie we can hang our hat on. With a reported budget of $90 million to $100 million, Trolls World Tour was pretty much the only risk-taker of the bunch. In fact, given that Artemis Fowl is going to a streaming service instead of VOD, it’ll likely be the only movie we can look to for the potential future of the medium.

Trolls World Tour released on Friday, April 10 and is available to rent on VOD for 48 hours for the low, low price of $19.99. Okay, so maybe it’s not incredibly low, but it’s definitely reasonable. In the past, when discussing VOD for new blockbusters, $40 to $50 is the price often tossed around. So, how did the movie fare?

Universal is touting that Trolls World Tour had the biggest opening day and weekend “of any digital title in history,” so THR reports. While we don’t have any raw numbers to look at for the opening, we do have a big hint. According to insiders, Trolls did ten times the business on Friday than Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom did on its opening day on VOD. 

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Of course, you have to take into account that this was after the movie had been in theaters for months — so it’s to be expected. Regardless, Trolls World Tour does seem like a big success, with it topping the No. 1 spot across Amazon, Comcast, Apple, Vudu, Google/YouTube, DirecTV, and Fandango NOW.

This move was not met without controversy. In the past, exhibitors have expressed their anger at Universal’s decision to release the movie day-and-date on digital. In fact, National Association of Theatre Owners chief John Fithian was quoted last month that “exhibitors will not forget this.”

There’s no denying that exhibitors are in a very vulnerable position. While some chains are surviving, others like AMC are on the verge of bankruptcy. In my personal opinion, the writing’s been on the wall for theaters for a while now, and I assumed the pandemic would be the thing that kickstarted the industry into being a mostly-home-release medium.

Sadly, we don’t have the numbers for Trolls World Tour, but it does appear to be an auspicious start for other releases like it. But what do you think? Let us know your thoughts down below!

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SOURCE: THR (1), (2)