Last year, AMC Entertainment CEO Adam Aron confirmed that discussions with studios were underway to extend the theatrical window to at least 45 days before any titles head to VOD. Three of the major studios had agreed that they need to reinstate the 45-day window, while several others were still in talks.
A report from The New York Times confirms that one of the studios making this change is Universal, which is now revising its theatrical release strategy. Previously, the studio sent films to PVOD after just 17 days—roughly three weekends in theaters. Beginning in 2026, Universal will extend that window to five weekends, and by 2027, it plans to expand it further to seven weekends.
The move is a major win for theater owners, who have long argued that audiences won’t rush to cinemas if movies arrive at home just weeks later.
Quentin Tarantino must be happy. He recently took aim at studios’ “show pony exercise” of not giving movies proper theatrical bows and instead releasing their titles on streaming after only a few weeks in theaters.
“What the f— is a movie now? Something that plays in theaters for a token release for four f—in’ weeks, and by the second week you can watch it on television? I didn’t get into all this for diminishing returns,” Tarantino said in January.
Since 2020, when the pandemic shuttered cinemas for many months, studios entered what many have called a “new normal” for moviegoing, where studios found a way to make a considerable amount of profit by rushing their new titles to digital. It has only accelerated over the last five years, to the point where a recent film like Steve Soderbergh’s “Black Bag” was released on VOD just 16 days after its theatrical debut.
Another blatant example was Universal’s treatment of 2024’s “Wicked,” which, in late December of that year, was still racking up big money at the domestic box office. Yet Universal decided that four weeks was more than enough time before making it available for online viewing.
This “new normal,” where studios have found a way to make considerable profit by rushing their new titles to digital, has completely devalued the worth of moviegoing. It’s great to hear that studios have finally changed their tune on this matter.