On December 31st, Universal made its musical WICKED available to consumers to watch at home through all popular PVOD services including Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV+, Xfinity Stream, and YouTube Movies & TV. While some questioned the move given the terrific 5-week exclusive run WICKED had in theatres, Universal shot back that WICKED was an immediate online hit as well, with the highest first-week PVOD sales of any movie in the studio’s history.
The studio claims to have sold $70M in PVOD rentals over its first 7 days, a notable win because studios keep a significantly larger percentage of gross revenues from PVOD sales than they do from the in-theatre box office. As a rule, studios keep 80% of PVOD earnings, compared to a range of 65%-50% from the box office.
This has led to studios shortening the exclusive window for theatrical runs, despite evidence that a “good” movie can still draw crowds to theatres beyond the shorter 30-day to 45-day windows that are now common. However, Universal may have reasoned that a decline in the theatrical box office after making their movies available online is worth the price, as they try to find the ideal formula to maximize earnings.