Despite reports of its success, it turns out Trolls World Tour might not be as big of a success for Universal as was initially thought.
Trolls World Tourmight not have been the on demand success story everyone believed it was. Universal made the unprecedented decision to move the animated sequel directly to VOD back in mid-March, when the coronavirus pandemic made it very clear that upcoming movies wouldn't get to play in theaters. Universal's move was shocking purely because most delayed films were waiting to score a theatrical run; Trolls World Tour was the very first movie to go in a different direction. At the time of its release in April, Trolls World Tour seemed to be a streaming success, scoring the biggest digital debut ever and later surpassing the revenue of the first Trolls.
Universal's confidence in the power of streaming was further exemplified by their decision to send more films directly to streaming, like The King of Staten Island. Additionally, NBCUniversal's CEO made some comments that suggested the studio would be prioritizing streaming releases over theatrical runs in the future, which sparked major backlash from theater owners. AMC Theatres was the first to criticize the comments and vowed to never show another Universal film on their screens; to this day, the chain hasn't changed their mind. Nevertheless, Universal has continued to express its interest in early VOD releases.
However, new reports suggest Trolls World Tour wasn't quite the smash hit success Universal made it out to be, which puts the future viability of direct-to-VOD release into question. A marketing rep spoke to The Wrapand hinted Trolls World Tour won't be a success unless it can perform well overseas. "The (premium video on demand) stuff hasn’t really been a success for anyone," the rep admitted. "'Trolls’ spent roughly $50 million on marketing and then made, what, $100 million." That certainly doesn't leave much of a profit behind and also doesn't take into account how much the movie itself cost to make.
This seems to further prove the point that early VOD releases aren't viable for bigger blockbuster films. Following the delays of movies like Black Widowand Wonder Woman 1984, some fans hoped they would get sent directly to streaming. However, this would've drastically impacted any profits the studios could make off their films. Therefore, it makes more sense to wait for a proper theatrical run.
For smaller movies like Trolls World Tour, the direct-to-VOD route makes a bit more sense. At the same time, it also makes it harder for them to become breakout financial successes. Universal will likely never reveal any concrete numbers regarding Trolls World Tour, though their actions so far certainly seem to posit the movie as a win. Still, it doesn't seem like Trolls World Tourwas quite the success they were hoping for, and it will be interesting to see if Universal continues to pursue VOD releases.
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