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Every 2020 Movie Available On-Demand Early While Theaters Are Closed

With venues shuttered, studios are bringing some of their biggest films to viewers stuck at home.
Onward Disney Pixar
Courtesy of Disney/Pixar.

On March 16, Universal announced plans to make its very recent theatrical releases, like The Hunt and The Invisible Man, available to consumers at home via on-demand providers—a break from the tradition of allowing a spread of between 70 and 90 days before a new movie is given a second life.

“Given the rapidly evolving and unprecedented changes to consumers’ daily lives during this difficult time, the company felt that now was the right time to provide this option in the home as well as in theaters,” NBCUniversal CEO Jeff Shell said in a statement at the time.

That decision was made just before movie theaters around the country were forced to close during the coronavirus pandemic—and it didn't take long for other studios, including Warner Bros., Disney, and Sony, to follow Universal’s lead. By now, every major 2020 theatrical release is already available to watch at home—including some movies that never even made it to the multiplex.

Ahead, a full list of the major 2020 movies that are available to stream via on-demand providers. (When you buy something through our links, we may earn an affiliate commission.)

Underwater

Original Release Date: January 10
__Total Global Box Office: $40.8 million
Of Note: Originally shot in 2017, this Kristen Stewart flop is notable for being the last film released under the banner of 20th Century Fox—which was rebranded as 20th Century Studios after Disney’s acquisition of the legendary film studio.

Bad Boys for Life

Original Release Date: January 17
Total Global Box Office: $425.5 million
Of Note: The third film in the Bad Boys franchise, but first without director Michael Bay (who produced the film and has a funny cameo appearance in its first act), reunited stars Will Smith and Martin Lawrence 17 years after Bad Boys II. It is the highest-grossing film in the franchise so far. No surprise then that a fourth movie is already in development.

Dolittle

Original Release Date: January 17
Total Global Box Office: $227.9 million
Of Note: Let's just say most critics weren't kind to the long-in-the-works Robert Downey Jr. movie, his first major starring role since bidding farewell to the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

The Gentlemen

Original Release Date: January 24
Total Global Box Office: $117.7 million
Of Note: Director Guy Ritchie previously told Vanity Fair he wrote the star-studded throwback crime thriller 10 years ago. The film, which received mixed reviews, stars Matthew McConaughey, Charlie Hunnam, Henry Golding, Hugh Grant, Michelle Dockery, and No. 1 boy Jeremy Strong.

The Rhythm Section

Original Release Date: January 31
Total Global Box Office: $5.9 million
Of Note: The Blake Lively thriller had the ignominious distinction of debuting with the worst opening weekend ever for a movie on 3,000 or more screens.

The Assistant

Original Release Date: January 31
Total Global Box Office: $1.1 million
Of Note: Written and directed by Kitty Green, The Assistant was conceived after the first allegations of sexual misconduct against Harvey Weinstein broke in 2017. (Weinstein has since been convicted of rape and was sentenced to 23 years in jail.) The film focuses on a harrowing day in the life of a young woman (Julie Garner) who works for an unnamed film mogul. “The women I spoke with all discussed their frustration with the machinery that surrounded these predators and the culture that supports violence and discrimination against women,” Green said previously. “I believe challenging the system that allows these predators to thrive is an important step in bringing about the change that the #MeToo movement is focused on.”

Birds of Prey

Original Release Date: February 7
Total Global Box Office: $201.8 million
Of Note: Director Cathy Yan previously told Vanity Fair it was important to make sure the costumes worn by the film's lead character, Harley Quinn (played by Margot Robbie), were not filtered through the male gaze. “We wanted to make sure there was a visual departure from the way she looked in Suicide Squad because she’s different,” she said of Harley Quinn, who made her debut in the critically derided 2016 film. “She’s without the Joker, she’s no longer the girlfriend, and what does that say? What does that mean? If she’s just on her own, what clothes did she choose to wear?”

Sonic the Hedgehog

Original Release Date: February 14
Total Global Box Office: $306 .7 million
Of Note: After the initial trailer for Sonic the Hedgehog caused the classic video game character's fan base to revolt, Paramount delayed the project three months to completely redesign Sonic's on-screen look. It worked: Sonic the Hedgehog stands as the No. 2 highest-grossing movie of the year (and with movie theaters closed, could hold that title for months).

Downhill

Original Release Date: February 14
Total Global Box Office: $8.8 million
Of Note: The Will Ferrell and Julia Louis-Dreyfus comedy was a remake of beloved 2014 film Force Majeure. Reviews were mixed, but everyone seemed to agree that Louis-Dreyfus is worth the price of admission: “Downhill is a clever movie when it could have been profound, had, perhaps, [writer-directors Nat Faxon and Jim Rash] been willing—or capable—of digging deeper,” Vanity Fair critic Richard Lawson wrote in his review of the film. “That’s frustrating for a lot of reasons, one of which being that Louis-Dreyfus is so clearly willing to go there and further. Her big scene, in which her character explains to some relative strangers how her whole conception of her marriage shifted suddenly in one harrowing moment, is beautifully delivered. Teary and furious, Louis-Drefyus gives the movie its only real feeling of primal catharsis. It’s a terrific bit of acting; I wish the rest of the film rose to meet it.”

Fantasy Island

Original Release Date: February 14
Total Global Box Office: $47.3 million
Of Note: This Blumhouse horror-thriller was panned by critics, but still wound up earning almost seven times its reported budget.

Emma

Original Release Date: February 21
Total Global Box Office: $25.1 million
Of Note: Starring Anya Taylor-Joy, Emma is but the latest Hollywood adaptation of the famed Jane Austen source material. “Clueless is my favorite version of Emma and I think Amy Heckerling is brilliant,” director Autumn de Wilde told Indiewire. “But I didn’t rewatch [any other adaptations] because it was important not to have a sort of recent effect on what I was doing, because the story is so amazing and there are endless possibilities. … I like the good ones, I like the bad ones, I like to see what people decided was important about the story.”

Call of the Wild

Original Release Date: February 21
Total Global Box Office: $107.6 million
Of Note: Actor and stunt coordinator Terry Notary played the CGI dog opposite Harrison Ford in this adaptation of the Jack London classic. Here's what it looked like:

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The Invisible Man

Original Release Date: February 28
Total Global Box Office $124.5 million
Of Note: Produced for less than $10 million, this Blumhouse take on the classic H.G. Wells story turned attention away from the titular mystery figure and focused on the woman (Elisabeth Moss) he stalked and abused. Director Leigh Whannell (the Saw franchise) said it was Moss who helped him make sure the film was true to a woman's perspective. “I’m writing a movie about this experience that I have nothing to do with, and there’s a certain impostor syndrome that can set in. You start to doubt yourself,” he told Vulture. “She would really go through the scenes with me with a razor and just bring her insight to it. As soon as I got her stamp of approval, I could feel comfortable moving forward. In that regard, she was almost like a co-writer in her policing of every emotional beat.”

Onward

Original Release Date: March 6
Total Global Box Office: $104 million
Of Note: The Pixar film about a pair of brothers (voiced by Chris Pratt and Tom Holland) on a quest to reconstruct their deceased dad for one day was inspired by director Dan Scanlon's real life. Read Anthony Breznican's touching story on the movie's production here.

The Way Back

Original Release Date: March 6
Total Global Box Office: $14.6 million
Of Note: Before its release, star Ben Affleck participated in numerous interviews where he freely discussed how he related to his character, an alcoholic basketball coach with a failed marriage. “The biggest regret of my life is this divorce,” Affleck told the New York Times in February. “Shame is really toxic. There is no positive byproduct of shame. It’s just stewing in a toxic, hideous feeling of low self-worth and self-loathing…. It’s not particularly healthy for me to obsess over the failures—the relapses—and beat myself up.” Affleck has been to rehab multiple times, which—spoiler alert—is where his character in The Way Back ends up. “I have certainly made mistakes. I have certainly done things that I regret. But you’ve got to pick yourself up, learn from it, learn some more, try to move forward,” he said.

The Hunt

Original Release Date: March 13
Total Global Box Office: $6.5 million
Of Note: The political satire and gory action-comedy was originally set to come out in September of 2019 before its release was scrapped after right-wing news outlets and commentators (as well as President Donald Trump) became outraged by what they perceived to be the film's plot: that a bunch of liberal elites were hunting and killing conservatives for sport. That's sort of what happens but the film is more complex than it was first assumed. “I think people should see this movie,” star Betty Gilpin wrote for Vanity Fair. “It’s meant to do the opposite of what the internet claims it wants to do, and it being locked in 1984 jail means we can only perpetuate myths about what it is, and continue to perpetuate myths about each other. The film is not meant to incite violence, or deepen the divide. It’s meant to make you laugh and feel a little uncomfortable, no matter what sticker you have on your car. In many test screenings, people of a variety of political backgrounds were asked a question: Does this film skew right or left? Unanimously, audiences said it was neutral. It’s not meant to stoke conflict—it’s meant to cross the battlefield the morning after, Starbucks in hand, both sides hungover and exhausted, and say, with tears in our eyes…I miss you, poopface.”

Bloodshot

Original Release Date: March 13
Total Global Box Office: $29.7 million
Of Note: If nothing else, this Vin Diesel comic book adaptation led to this piece in The Hollywood Reporter about what it's like to attempt to interview Vin Diesel.

I Still Believe

Original Release Date: March 13
Total Global Box Office: $10.4 million
Of Note: The Christian romance drama is based on the true story of songwriter Jeremy Camp (played by Riverdale star KJ Apa) and his wife Melissa Lynn Henning-Camp (Britt Robertson), who died shortly after their marriage.

Never Rarely Sometimes Always

Original Release Date: March 13
Total Global Box Office: $0.016 million
Of Note: About a young Pennslyvania teenager who travels to New York City with a friend to get an abortion, the drama is the best-reviewed movie of 2020 so far. As director Eliza Hittman told Vanity Fair, “The movie is subtle and quiet, and it avoids being overtly political in that she never discusses her choice. Her decision has already been made. It’s not about the morality. She’s not conflicted; she’s desperate.”

Trolls World Tour

Original Release Date: April 10
Total Global Box Office: N/A
Of Note: In March, when NBCUniversal first announced Trolls World Tour would become available simultaneously in theaters and via on-demand providers, a handful of movie venues were still open. But it wasn’t long before all theaters shuttered because of the coronavirus pandemic, making Trolls World Tour the highest-profile theatrical release thus far to debut on VOD. On April 28, after three weeks of release, the Wall Street Journal reported that Trolls World Tour had earned close to $100 million in domestic rentals, providing NBCUniversal with roughly the same amount of North American revenue the original Trolls film grossed during its entire five-month theatrical run. Pleased with the results, NBCUniversal CEO Jeff Shell said he anticipated that the studio will be flexible with its release plans going forward. “As soon as theaters reopen, we expect to release movies on both formats,” he said. Theaters, unsurprisingly, were not happy: AMC, Regal owner Cineworld, and the National Association of Theatre Owners all condemned Universal for its possible plans, and AMC and Regal vowed to no longer screen Universal movies at its venues.

Scoob

Original Release Date: May 15
Total Global Box Office: N/A
Of Note: The Warner Bros. animated movie will now arrive via on-demand providers on May 15, the day it was originally supposed to debut in theaters.

Artemis Fowl

Original Release Date: May 31
Total Global Box Office: N/A
Of Note: Disney bumped its entire spring release slate but, thus far, Artemis Fowl is the only movie that the studio plans to debut on its Disney+ streaming platform. The Sir Kenneth Branagh adventure will become available to subscribers on June 12.

The King of Staten Island

Original Release Date: June 19
Total Global Box Office: N/A
Of Note: The next big test for NBCUniversal as its executives gauge the audience’s appetite for first-run premium video-on-demand options is this Pete Davidson star vehicle, from director Judd Apatow. Originally set to premiere at the South by Southwest Film Festival, The King of Staten Island is an R-rated summer comedy in the vein of Apatow’s previous Universal hits The 40-Year-Old Virgin, Knocked Up, and Trainwreck, all of which grossed more than $100 million. Rather than reschedule, Universal will release the film on digital platforms starting June 12.


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