Universal to Release Their First Straight to VOD Live-Action Film
Universal is among the many production companies that has been forced to either push back their theatrical releases or put their films on VOD. They were one of the first to put their films straight onto digital with ‘Trolls: World Tour.’ The company also took films ‘Emma’ and horror flicks ‘The Hunt’ and ‘The Invisible Man’ out of theaters and onto VOD for the public. Straight to VOD is a decision that many companies have been wrestling with the idea of ever since the pandemic began. Universal is taking it a step further by releasing their first live-action film to go straight to VOD.
The film that they plan on releasing straight to VOD without any kind of theatrical release is Pete Davidson’s ‘King of Staten Island.’ Pete Davidson and Judd Apatow’s film will hit the home market early, forgoing any theatrical release to start earning money now. Universal has found relative success in their current VOD venture that is making them re-think their current model. Exactly how much they are re-thinking that model is unknown, but what is known is that the company is doing well with what they currently have going for them.
‘The King of Staten Island’ is a sort of autobiographical comedy by comedian Pete Davidson and director Judd Apatow. The movie features Davidson in his first leading role in a movie as a tattooist named Scott in his mid-20’s living with his mother. Scott has had a case of arrested development ever since his father died when he was young. His world is soon rocked, however, when his mother starts dating a firefighter and he can’t deal with the new “loudmouth.” The film was originally set to premiere in theaters on June 19th.
This pandemic has since changed Universal’s plan for releases as it did with many other companies’ plans. Universal has managed to make this new plan work for them with all things considered. ‘The King of Staten Island’ was, like most other films meant to release between now and mid-July, pulled from the schedule to be placed on a digital docket. Now the film will release digitally in the same month it was meant to release theatrically. This release model may not be permanently effective when things go back to normal, but for now, it works.