The Elusive Theatrical Window Shifts Once Again

So, what’s the ideal theatrical window anyway? It’s a question that’s been asked many times since the post-lockdown period and its accompanying turbulence shook up the then-standard 90-day release window. While studios have swung away from the failed day-and-date model and embraced the power of a theatrical release for streaming marketing efforts and the box office, the days of a “standard” release window seem to be behind us. As the industry tries to find a new ideal window, we’ve seen theatrical run times shrink again. But, as Brandon Blake, our expert entertainment attorney from Blake & Wang P.A., notes, that isn’t necessarily a bad thing for the box office, either.

Brandon Blake

A 7-Day Shift, Again

As the box office has regained some health in the turbulent post-pandemic period, we’ve seen 45-day windows become something of the “new normal.” Truthfully, there is no such thing anymore. Some films make the shift to PVOD and streaming relatively quickly, while others opt for longer windows, and some companies, like Disney, tend to take it on a film-by-film basis. Typically, summer hits will stay in theaters longer than at other periods.

In 2024, however, all but one of this summer's 32 wide-release films have announced their PVOD release dates or have already shifted to streaming. And notably, the average window will be around the 35-day mark, or about a week shorter than in the last two years. Overall, we are currently running on an average 30-day window.

This is being echoed in streaming runs, which have also shortened. For 2024, we are looking at an average of 120 days on pure subscription streaming (vs. PVOD and rent-on-demand services), which is in the region of a 10% decrease.

A Trend, or Coincidence?

Admittedly, some outside factors might impact these statistics. Notably, 2023’s Oppenheimer had a massive 122-day delay on its PVOD shift. Likewise, the sleeper hit Sound of Freedom had an extraordinarily long delay of 102 days.

If we take Disney as a benchmark, this year’s two top-performing hits, Inside Out 2 and Deadpool and Wolverine, went to PVOD release 67 days after their theatrical release. These numbers are reasonably consistent with last year, when almost all Disney releases had at least a 60-day window. Longlegs and Bad Boys: Ride or Die, two more of this year’s best performers, averaged 53 days. Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes and Alien: Romulus went past the 45-day mark. In 2023, only 12 films over the full year passed that benchmark. However, we have seen considerably shorter windows as we leave summer, with even the hit sequel Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice opting for a 32-day window.

So, what’s the net takeaway? While instinct may urge us to view shorter theatrical windows as a box office threat, the data doesn’t quite support that. Most of the biggest titles are still opting for long runs. Meanwhile, the lucrative PVOD market, where studios make back a lot of their revenue on film investments, benefits greatly from in-theater hype and prominence.

While the lack of a fixed theatrical window may be something new for the industry to adapt to, it’s far from a poor sign for the box office overall. In fact, it’s symptomatic of the industry’s adaptation to the “new normal” we all crave—an ecosystem where both streaming and theatrical releases can thrive side-by-side.