'Trolls World Tour' Earns Nearly $100 Million in First 3 Weeks of VOD Rentals, Universal Says

Universal's gamble to bypass a theatrical release for "Trolls World Tour" and release it on demand instead appears to have paid off. On Tuesday, the studio reported that the sequel to the 2016 animated hit has scored nearly 5 million rentals since its April 10 debut and earned close to $100 million in digital rental fees.

"The results for 'Trolls World Tour' have exceeded our expectations and demonstrated the viability of PVOD," NBCUniversal CEO Jeff Shell told the Wall Street Journal. "As soon as theaters reopen, we expect to release movies on both formats."

According to the Journal, "Trolls World Tour" has already produced more revenue than the original 2016 animated movie did for the studio. That film, produced with a $125 million budget, grossed $153.7 million domestically and $346.9 million worldwide.

But unlike with theatrical grosses, which are split evenly with movie theaters, Universal retains roughly 80% of digital rental fees — which were set at a higher than usual level of $19.99 for "Trolls World Tour."

The success of the digital-only release of a big studio film like "Trolls" could set the stage for further conflict between studios and exhibitors, which have long insisted on a 90-day window between the release of movie in theaters and its availability to consumers at home. Those windows, which have long been eroding, could collapse altogether in the current environment — and studios may be loath to restore them when the pandemic subsides and movie theaters reopen.

As movies first started to shift on the release slate due to the coronavirus pandemic, Universal was swift to move up the at-home release of "Trolls World Tour" and planned to release the animated sequel day-and-date on VOD and in theaters over Easter weekend. Universal release the film in 21 drive-in theaters that have remained open across the country, but with traditional theaters shuttered across the country, the animated sequel effectively made its debut digitally.

Anna Kendrick and Justin Timberlake lead the voice cast of "Trolls World Tour," which is a sequel to the 2016 DreamWorks Animation film from 2016 "Trolls." Poppy (Kendrick) and Branch (Timberlake) discover that they are but one of six different Trolls tribes scattered over six different lands and devoted to six different kinds of music: Funk, Country, Techno, Classical, Pop and Rock. "Trolls World Tour" is directed by Walt Dohrn, who also served as co-director on the original film.