Romulus and Deadpool & Wolverine Show PVOD Price Hikes

Like everything else, the price of renting movies has increased lately. Titles like The Wild Robot, Alien: Romulus and Deadpool & Wolverine have become available to rent and can be streamed at home, even as some of these titles are still playing in theaters and even in the box office top 10. Yet the price to rent a movie is now nearly the same as the price to go out to the movie theater in some countries.

IndieWire noted that recent debut titles, The Wild Robot and Alien: Romulus, are available to rent for $24.99, a five-dollar bump from the $19.99 that used to be the industry standard. That is $1.46 less than a standard adult IMAX ticket in Los Angeles at the AMC Universal Citywalk, which costs $26.45. This 25% increase for Paid Video on Demand (PVOD) titles is likely due to studios still being able to profit from a movie that is playing in theaters concurrently. According to the report, studios make about 80% of the rental cost for a film on PVOD after a small fee, meaning that the $5 increase means $4 more profit for the studios.

When a movie is released in theaters, for the first two weeks of the title’s release, the studio typically makes about 60% of the revenue off that ticket, while the theaters get 40%. The theater’s percentage of the ticket price increases each week, so studios stand to gain more profit by releasing films for rental sooner as they earn 80% of those profits. Sending movies to PVOD stands to make a studio more money, but the $24.99 price point is likely a way not to upset theater owners too much as the price of renting and the price of admission in some regions are now the same price, therefore not undercutting the theaters.

A Ramification of the COVID-19 Pandemic

Ever since the COVID-19 pandemic shut down theaters, the window between a film’s theatrical release and its PVOD and digital release has drastically shortened. In July 2020, AMC Theaters reached an agreement with Universal Pictures, allowing the studio to make their films available on premium video-on-demand after only 17 days in theaters, including three weekends. This deal is seemingly still in effect as The Wild Robot, released through Universal Pictures subsidiary DreamWorks Animation, arrived on PVOD three weeks after it opened in theaters. More studios have sent their films to PVOD early, even if they are still performing well at the box office. Beetlejuice Beetlejuice became available to rent on PVOD on October 8, 2024, just 33 days after it opened in theaters and was dominating the box office. Beetlejuice Beetlejuice continues to do well at the box office despite being available to rent, but now Warner Bros. can make more of a profit off of it on PVOD rental than it will in its extended box office.

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This period of $24.99 rentals also tends to go away after two to three weeks on PVOD, right before a movie’s physical media release comes out. It also tends to drop right before a film becomes available to stream on a studio’s streaming platform. Twisters is now $19.99, but that price will likely drop before it becomes available to watch on Peacock starting November 15, 2024. Deadpool & Wolverine‘s price of $24.99 will likely drop when the movie arrives on Disney+. For a family of three, renting Transformers: One, which just arrived on PVOD, for $24.99 might be cheaper than a night out at the movies, but it is still a big price point for a film that someone doesn’t get to own or even see on a big screen.

The Wild Robot is an animated drama film based on a series of books by Peter Brown. The adaptation is written and directed by Chris Sanders and stars Lupita Nyong’o, Pedro Pascal, and Catherine O’Hara. The Wild Robot centers on a robot named Rozzum 7134, who becomes stranded on a deserted island and the guardian of a young orphan.

Release Date

September 27, 2024

Runtime

101 Minutes

Studio(s)

Dreamworks

Distributor(s)

Universal Studios

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