‘Twisters’ Already Headed to VOD on August 13 — Might Not Break Even

It looks like Lee Isaac Chung’s “Twisters,” which has been in theaters for less than three weeks, has already set up a VOD release date of August 13.

The film had a big opening weekend of $80M, but fell hard last week, dropping -60% and has so far tallied $179M domestically. That’s not bad. The problem for “Twisters” lies more in its international receipts where it’s only racked up $66M and has had another very steep drop this weekend.

If you can believe it, the film might actually not break even. Its budget ($155M) was too high and it peaked too early. Variety recently reported that it would need to gross $390M to make its money back — it has so far racked up $245M worldwide.

This is possibly where the early VOD release comes in. Universal is looking at the numbers and thinking, especially with “Deadpool & Wolverine” having stolen so many screens these last few weeks, they might as well make it available digitally, while the film is still semi-fresh in people’s mind.

This is very much one of the main reasons why theatrical has not been doing well. It’s just not mentioned enough by the trades, and filmmakers haven’t really called it out. A serious conversation should be had about this very topic, it’s time to tackle it head on. If a moviegoer knows that a film they want to see will be available to stream just a few weeks after its release, chances are that they won’t be going to see it at a movie theater.

Studios should maybe try not to not have PVOD dates leak out so early, especially so soon after opening weekend. It’s disrespectful not just to the filmmakers, but also to the theatrical exhibitors who are desperately trying to get audiences to embrace moviegoing again.

Oddly enough, a notable exception to the rule have been this summer’s two big Disney movies: “Inside Out 2” and “Deadpool & Wolverine,” both of which were given an exclusive 100-day theatrical bow. They won’t be available online until the fall.