In a move that seemed somewhat inevitable even before the current pandemic, Universal is shifting its business model to day-and-date streaming.
Starting with the April 1 release of Trolls World Tour, the studio and its subsidiaries (DreamWorks Animation, Focus Features) will be making new movies available on-demand the same day they hit whatever cinemas remain open at this point.
Universal films already in their theatrical run—among them, The Invisible Man, The Hunt, and Emma.—could be streaming as early as Friday.
Don’t worry, though: the studio is still going to try to use human desperation in a time of need to turn a profit. If you want to rent any of these films, it’ll cost you a cool twenty.
