‘Trolls World Tour,’ the sequel to the 2016 blockbuster ‘Trolls,’ was one of the year’s first major films to be directly impacted by the drastic changes the current global health crisis has caused as – in an unprecedented move – Universal decided to bypass theaters and take the animated flick directly to video-on-demand (VOD).
Introduced at the 48-hour rental price of $19.99 on April 10, the Justin Timberlake-led movie has nearly generated enough revenue to recoup the costs of its budget in less than 3 weeks.
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‘Trolls World Tour’ – with an estimated budget of $90-$100 million – has nearly overshadowed its production and promotion costs in home rentals alone.
“[‘Trolls World Tour’] has reportedly racked up an estimated $95M in rental fees in the title’s first 19 days. With VOD terms in the studio’s favor at an estimated 80%, Universal is banking an estimated $77M in revenues before marketing expenses. Those are better terms for Universal then the 50/50 or 60%-65%/40% splits they reap in their relationship with movie theaters.”
To put this in context, the first ‘Trolls’ film grossed $120.8 million at the domestic box office its first 19 days of availability and eventually went on to win a whopping $346 million worldwide.
Undoubtedly a win for Timberlake and co., the success of ‘World Tour’ may very well have broken ground for a number of other highly anticipated films to follow suit (instead of rescheduling their release dates).
Your thoughts?
Congrats! I am hoping with this success that we can have options to either go to the theater or watch a new movie at home the exact day it releases. Someone who enjoyed the film at the theater might come home and spend another $20. Or the person at home will enjoy it so much that they also want to see it on a larger screen/IMAX. $$$$$$$ 🙂 It won’t hurt the Blu-ray market to eventually own it at all. $$$$$$