The Trolls Test

 

          Like every other industry this year, the film industry was not immune to the effects of COVID-19, however it may be one of the very few industries that found a way to benefit from it. On April 10th of this year, just after movie theatres closed down Universal Studios released the animated film “Trolls World Tour'' (sequel to 2016’s ”Trolls'' ) to streaming, instead of the previously planned theatrical release. The film was made available for digital rental on certain streaming services, and ended up grossing more money in three weeks than the original “Trolls'' movie did in 5 months at the theatre. This was a huge risk for Universal Studios, as this had never been done before, however this ended up being the best decision Universal could have made, since it solidified that streaming is the best way to move forward during and even after the pandemic, at least monetarily speaking.

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          The success of the “Trolls World Tour” film has no doubt inspired Disney to follow in their footsteps with this year’s live action “Mulan”. This film set to release in theatres on March 27th was delayed and eventually made available for purchase and released to Disney+ on September 4th. With Disney having followed Universal Studios’s footsteps in skipping a theatrical run, there is no doubt that other studios will be taking this path as well.

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          So what does this mean for the cinemas moving forward? Are all theaters going to be run out of business? This is definitely an uncomfortable possibility that moviegoers along with cinemas face, and unfortunately it may become a reality. Even before the pandemic and this year's events occurred, movie theaters were already struggling to stay alive, with many smaller chains going bankrupt. In this day and age, audiences don’t see the need to leave the comfort of their own homes in order to enjoy a film. Many households with one or more streaming services are paying ten, twenty, thirty dollars a month for their entertainment and find it unnecessary to spend even more money for just one film, especially considering the large variety that these streaming services offer. In recent years streaming searvices have been providing a lot more than just low budget and /or old films. Netflix even managed to collaborate with the praised director, Martin Scorsese on a Netflix original film. Martin Scorsese’s “The Irishmen” was one of Netflix’s highest budget films, and although it did have a short theatrical run the success of this film was seen on Netflix as it was streamed by twenty-six million accounts in only the first seven days. Netflix is now the home of huge hits like Scorsese’s film, ”Marriage Story”, ”The Two Popes”, and a lot more. 

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          Although it is not likely that larger theater chains will be closing down soon, it will definitely become a lot more common to see films that would normally have a theatrical run, being released directly to streaming services and being made available for rent or purchase. ”Trolls World Tour” has shown that a trip to the theater may very soon mean a trip to your home living room.

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~Paloma Ixta

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