The chief of the National Association of Theater Owners, John Fithian, has claimed that cinema exhibitors will not forget Universal Studios’s decision to release Trolls World Tour straight to home video. The movie was released for digital distribution after cinema chains across the country closed due to coronavirus (COVID-19) concerns. Although the film is being marketed as having a simultaneous release in theaters and on premium VOD, Fithian rebuffs advertising claims, believing that Universal is "lying to consumers."
Fithian explained how other movies set for release during this turbulent time have since been rescheduled to later dates. He noted how these films intended to commit to their theatrical runs, even if they haven’t locked in a new date at this time.
"But all of the movies with originally planned release dates in April and May, with the one exception of Trolls, will be released later theatrically, with full theatrical windows," Fithian explained to The Hollywood Reporter. "All those other studios demonstrated their belief that the theatrical model is still essential to their business, they just had to delay release dates because of the virus."
He stressed how Universal is lying to the public by announcing the movie will be released in both theaters and at home, arguing that Universal "knows that theaters will still be closed on April 10." Whereas other studios shifted the release of their movies, including anticipated blockbusters such as MGM’s James Bond movie No Time to Die and Universal’s F9, which has been pushed back by a year -- Fithian highlighted how Universal didn’t make this decision for Trolls World Tour, a decision he believes exhibitors will not forget going forward.
"Only Universal, and only on Trolls, did one studio skip the theatrical model and go straight to the home," he added. "Universal continues to advertise to consumers that Trolls will be released simultaneously to theaters and the home on April 10. And they are lying to consumers. Universal knows that theaters will still be closed on April 10, so unlike every other distributor who must simply delay their releases in that time period, but still understand that theatrical release is essential to their business model, Universal on Trolls didn’t make that decision. Exhibitors will not forget this."
Trolls World Tour stars Anna Kendrick, Justin Timberlake, Rachel Bloom, Ozzy Osbourne, James Corden, Caroline Hjelt, Aino Jawo, Ron Funches, Kunal Nayyar, Mary J. Blige, George Clinton, Anderson .Paak, Kelly Clarkson, Sam Rockwell, Flula Borg, J Balvin, Ester Dean, Anthony Ramos, Jamie Dornan, Gustavo Dudamel, Charlyne Yi and Kenan Thompson. It arrives on home video April 10.