Game-Changer: ‘Trolls World Tour’ Digital Success Pits Universal Against Movie Theaters

Universal’s success in releasing “Trolls World Tour” direct to streaming — taking in $95 million in its first 19 days online — led the studio to declare its intention to release more movies that way in the future, and led AMC Theatres, the world’s largest movie theater chain, to sever its relationship with the studio. The tension over theatrical windows has now erupted into a full-blown war. The rapid escalation began with comments by NBCUniversal CEO Jeff Shell in The Wall Street Journal on Tuesday, saying that the success of the digital-only release of the “Trolls” sequel “demonstrated the viability of PVOD” and that “as soon as theaters reopen, we expect to release movies on both formats.” Those comments prompted AMC to send an open letter to Universal Chairman Donna Langley announcing that until and unless Universal backs off from Shell’s suggested plans to release movies day-and-date in both theaters and on VOD, the chain will no longer screen any Universal films in any of its theaters worldwide. “AMC believes that with this proposed action to go to the home and theatres simultaneously, Universal is breaking the business model and dealings between our two companies,” AMC CEO Adam Aron wrote....

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