Obsession is heading home over the summer, but not before Universal has been rewarded for giving it an extended theatrical run. On the quiet, there’s been a suspicion that one or two studios are seeing the appeal of a long cinema run again. Sony and Amazon’s Project Hail Mary for instance is available via video ... Obsession: on demand release finally coming, after extended cinema run
Obsession is heading home over the summer, but not before Universal has been rewarded for giving it an extended theatrical run.
On the quiet, there’s been a suspicion that one or two studios are seeing the appeal of a long cinema run again. Sony and Amazon’s Project Hail Mary for instance is available via video on demand services now, but not before it took $683m at the global box office. A physical media release is due in August, but hasn’t been officially announced yet.
Then there’s the staggering success of Obsession, the low budget horror that’s putting far more expensive films to shame. With the studio taking a remarkable $334m worldwide, and the film still packing out cinemas, Universal wisely extended its theatrical run, and has been rewarded for doing so.
Obsession is currently the seventh highest grossing film of the year around the world, outperforming the likes of Star Wars: The Mandalorian And Grogu, Scream 7 and Masters Of The Universe.
With summer blockbusters incoming and likely squeezing out available screens, it now looks as though Universal will be letting Obsession out on video on demand services, in the US at least. Rumour suggests that could be as soon as next week, with When To Stream suggesting a date of 30th June.
This hasn’t yet been confirmed officially, and even if the video on demand release lands, Curry Baker’s film isn’t going to be yanked from cinemas overnight. Last weekend at the US box office, it grossed a remarkable $13.4m on its sixth weekend of release. Again, you can compare that to a whole bunch of more expensive blockbusters that have got nowhere near that this year.
Certainly, cinemas are appreciating the return of longer theatrical runs. Lots of independents in particular have embraced the likes of Obsession and Backrooms, and welcomed the long tail they’re both enjoying.
It’s looking more and more that 45 day theatrical windows are returning, and that audiences are happy to watch (certain) films in cinemas. We’ll see if it lasts – although given that The Devil Wears Prada 2 appears to be heading to Disney+ next month, still some way to go…
