Universal Studios will be making many of their latest releases including The Invisible Man and The Hunt available on demand due to Coronavirus.
The company revealed this Monday (so, yesterday) that films already on release in the States and other countries (including the UK) will arrive on home platforms such as Apple, Amazon and Sky.
However, they won’t be free. Universal Studios revealed that each film will cost $19.99 for a 48-hour rental period.
The movies included so far are The Invisible Man, The Hunt and Emma and they’ll be available to rent from Friday.
They also revealed they would be releasing Trolls World Tour on demand in April which was when it was scheduled for release in cinemas.
That said, this doesn’t mean every single Universal film which was going to be released in 2020 will be made available online straight away.
Universal Studios is making The Invisible Man available on demand
The Invisible Man is the best horror remake made in a while – Credit: Universal
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I imagine Universal Studios will see how things go regarding the coronavirus and then make a decision from there.
Here’s the full statement (via Empire) Universal Studios made about making some of their latest releases available on demand:
Given the rapidly evolving and unprecedented changes to consumers’ daily lives during this difficult time, the company felt that now was the right time to provide this option in the home as well as in theatres,” the studio said in a statement. “NBCUniversal will continue to evaluate the environment as conditions evolve and will determine the best distribution strategy in each market when the current unique situation changes.
Universal Pictures has a broad and diverse range of movies with 2020 being no exception. Rather than delaying these films or releasing them into a challenged distribution landscape, we wanted to provide an option for people to view these titles in the home that is both accessible and affordable.
We hope and believe that people will still go to the movies in theatres where available, but we understand that for people in different areas of the world that is increasingly becoming less possible.
Universal Studios is charging too much for these new movies
The Hunt stars Betty Gilpin – Credit: Blumhouse Productions
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There are pros and cons to what Universal Studios is doing here.
The biggest pro is that people will now get to watch those movies and won’t have to wait until they come out on DVD or Blu-ray, which is nice.
However, paying $19.99 for only renting a movie for 48 hours seems like a very high price to pay.
I would prefer it if it was the price of a cinema ticket.
By making these movies available online, Universal could end up making quite a bit of money out of them.
They won’t have to pay as much for distribution which means more money will go into their pockets from this release strategy.
What do you make of this news?
Are you glad to hear you’ll be able to watch The Invisible Man and The Hunt from the comfort of your own home?
Let us know in the comments below.
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