Streaming New Movies at Home

It was only a matter of time before movies adopted the stay-at-home model. Catching the latest releases at the movie theater is no longer an option. With many new movies ready to release, major movie production companies turned to streaming to deliver their latest content. Whether you rent these flicks or buy them, you have a few options to see the latest Hollywood productions.

Universal was the first major studio to bring four movies to the on-demand streaming format:

  • The Invisible Man
  • The Hunt
  • Emma
  • Trolls World Tour

The movies were available for a 48-hour rental for $19.99 on Comcast, Universal’s sister company. Universal offered these titles to Spectrum and AT&T as well as on-demand platforms including Vudu, Fandango, and Apple. Since then, a lot of other movies slated for a theatrical release became available for streaming. On the whole, it’s a good thing because people got to see the latest movies at home. Or did they? There’s a slight downside to all of this home streaming. It’s the fact that you can’t stream some of these movies unless you subscribe to a specific service provider.

Take Frozen 2, for example…

…Since March 14, Disney+ is the only place you can see this. If you don’t have that streaming service, you better hope this isn’t a must-see movie for your kids. If it is, you could find yourself over the proverbial barrel.

Disney did something a little different with Onward, one of the latest Pixar films. This movie was available for purchase on a variety of digital platforms on March 20. The cost was $19.99. This happened before Onward was available on Disney+ on April 3. My guess: Onward was Disney’s way of throwing us a bone because they know Frozen 2 is the bigger draw. Why else would that make it exclusive to their streaming platform?

It appears Disney took an even different approach to Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker. As of March 13, the final installment in the Star Wars trilogy was made available on iTunes and Prime Video. The movie will be available on Disney+ on Monday, May 4, 2020. Given the popularity of the Star Wars franchise, this business decision hardly comes as a surprise.

But Disney isn’t the only game in town. There are a bunch of other movies that bypassed the now-closed theater chains and went straight to streaming. Flicks like The Invisible Man, The Hunt, and Emma are available on iTunes and Prime Video. Same thing with DC’s Birds of Prey. I applaud the decision to make these new movies available to more than just specific subscribers.

Where Do We Go from Here?

Ideally, everything goes back to normal and movie theaters open again. At the risk of sounding cliché, it would be a win-win situation. People who prefer the theater experience can have that while streamers like me keep getting movies the way we like them. I like it when everyone gets what they want. For now, that’s just a dream… but at least I have the latest movies to watch. Don’t be surprised if Mrs. Buckler and I stream The Invisible Man this weekend. Just saying.

About the Author

Jake Buckler
Jake Buckler is a cord-cutter, consumer electronics geek, and Celtic folk music fan. Those qualities, and his writing experience, helped him land a copywriting gig at Signal Group, LLC. He also contributes to The Solid Signal Blog.