Post Pandemic, Hollywood May Skip Theaters to Release At Home

Entertainment is one of many elements of society that’s transforming right before our eyes during the COVID-19 pandemic.

But instead of hoping to get in the ticket line, we’re hoping we have the right ZOOM conference room to see DJs performing from their bedrooms instead of a stage.

“In the absence of being able to put their films in theaters, [the studios] are starting to take the steps of releasing them directly online.” — Chris Lee, Vulture 

And this week, Universal Studios is the first studio on tap to deliver a cinematic release straight into your home. This Friday, they’re slated to release “Trolls World Tour,” the sequel to 2016’s box-office hit “Trolls,” through video-on-demand. 

It’s something that Hollywood executives will be watching closely, Vulture’s Chris Lee tells CultureShift’s Ryan Patrick Hooper.

“In the absence of being able to put their films in theaters, [the studios] are starting to take the steps of releasing them directly online,” Lee tells CultureShift’s Ryan Patrick Hooper. “This [is something] the owners of the theaters have been doing everything in their power to not let happen.

For years, major motion picture studios like Universal have fought against some of the changes mega-streaming platforms like Netflix have embraced as a new model for the way consumers watch films. 

With a global pandemic shutting down major movie theater chains around the country, now major studios are changing their tune, says Lee.

Since the pandemic, Lee has been covering how COVID-19 has changed entertainment habits and revealed that the idea of studio houses doing platform releases was once “unthinkable.” 

Click the player above to learn more about how you can gain access to studio films from your couch.