I’ve marveled a little at the argument there may not be an appetite for digital movies while we’re all stuck indoors. That’s ridiculous. If you’re a movie fan you’ve got no choice but have an appetite for them, which is why studios have been bringing their biggest movies to VOD earlier than ever before. And now we have at least some evidence that audiences are indeed paying to watch from home, despite the $19.99 pricepoint.
Last weekend, the first in which all of the major theaters were closed in America, saw FandangoNow record their biggest weekend ever. While sales and rental figures weren’t made available, the online service’s top 10 is full of movies that were released digitally early, led by The Invisible Man, Onward, and The Hunt.
I’ll be curious to know what the figures are on these, but that we may never get. Expect to see Birds of Prey be near the top of the charts this upcoming weekend, and it’ll be very interesting to see what a new release like Trolls World Tour does next month.
Interesting to note that the $19.99 price on some rentals wasn’t a deterrent for people as #TheInvisibleMan, #TheHunt and #Emma all place in the top 6, and all arrived as premium rentals
— Erik Davis (@ErikDavis) March 23, 2020