Just as movie theaters were trying to recover the effects of pandemic closure, a cost-of-living crisis tipped the scales in favor of in-home entertainment. Studios must once again retool licensing and distribution strategies to reach consumers.
U.S. studios have doubled down on SVOD initiatives since beginning to experiment with new release opportunities during the pandemic. Disney+ did so with PVOD, allowing users to rent select movies day-and-date with their theatrical release, while HBO Max (now known as "Max"), simply made many of its high-profile theatrical releases available to stream day-and-date.
