Are People Willing to Pay $20 to Rent a Movie? ‘The Invisible Man’ Seems to Suggest Yes

When Universal announced it would be making three of its recently released films —The Invisible Man, The Hunt, and Emma—available to rent on digital video-on-demand services for $19.99, some Twitter users initially balked at the price. Twenty bucks to rent a movie for 48 hours? That’s about five times the price to rent say, Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle, which is available to rent on Amazon for a mere $3.99.

But of course, this $19.99 price point was borne from a highly unusual and special set of circumstances. In response to the coronavirus pandemic, the vast majority of movie theaters across the country have been shut down, so in response (and to help recoup their multi-million dollar marketing budgets), studios have pushed their theatrical releases out on digital much earlier than they would under normal circumstances. And audiences, stuck at home with their social calendars for the next months completely cleared, are taking advantage.

So far, Universal has been the only major studio to break the established windowing period to make theatrical releases available for rent; movie theater owners responded by stating that “exhibitors will not forget this.” (Remember, studios and movie theaters traditionally split box office revenues while films play in theaters.) Movie fans, however, didn’t have any qualms with this radical new experiment. According to FandangoNOW, the transactional video-on-demand service from Fandango, the top movie in terms of weekend sales and rentals was The Invisible Man, the horror movie starring Elisabeth Moss. In second place was Pixar’s Onward, which Disney made available to buy for $19.99 (and will also be available to stream on Disney+ next week). The Hunt and Emma, also now available for rent, were fourth and sixth on the list respectively. Here is the full top ten FandangoNOW list for this past weekend:

1. The Invisible Man (2020)
2. Pixar’s Onward
3. Jumanji: The Next Level
4. The Hunt
5. Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker
6. Emma (2020)
7. 1917
8. Spies in Disguise
9. Knives Out
10. Just Mercy

Other platforms, like Amazon and iTunes, seem to suggest their users were of a similar mindset. On Tuesday (March 24) evening, Onward was the No. 1 movie on the Top iTunes Movie Rentals Charts, while The Invisible Man was the No. 9 movie. Under Amazon’s popular “rent or buy” movies category on Wednesday (March 25) afternoon, The Invisible Man was No. 2, while Autumn de Wilde’s Jane Austen adaptation Emma was No. 7. Prime Video branded the films as “in-theater purchases,” or with an “early access” denotation.

So, are people willing to spend $20 to rent a theatrical movie at home? It seems the answer is yes… Especially if that movie is The Invisible Man. And I have a feeling that Trolls World Tour from Universal, which will be available to rent for $19.99 for a 48-hour viewing window beginning April 10, will be an even bigger at-home hit for parents looking to keep their kids occupied during this time of social distancing. As of yesterday, two Disney-owned films were made available to buy on digital, for a slightly lower price, earlier than they normally would have: The Call of the Wild starring Harrison Ford, which opened in theaters on February 21, will cost you $14.99 to buy, while Downhill, the Will Ferrell and Julia Louis-Dreyfus comedy that flopped at the box office when it came out on February 14, is $9.99.

While $19.99 might sound like a lot for a movie rental, depending on what city you live in, that’s only slightly higher than the price of an average movie ticket. In New York City, that ranges from $15 to $20 depending on the format of the movie, compared to the nationwide average movie ticket price of $9.26, as of last summer. And if two people watch The Invisible Man when you rent it at home, you’re getting two for the price of one. Make that four people, and you’ve got yourself a pretty great deal on a first-run movie.

What does this mean for the future? It’s hard to say. This is an unprecedented situation not just for the film industry, but for the world. Some industry experts, like Richard Rushfield of The Ankler, an email newsletter about the film business, are ready to declare game-over for theatrical releases. “The average American doesn’t go to movies anymore, for all intents and purposes, except for one blockbuster a year or something,” Rushfield told The Ringer, adding that no one would “miss the habit” of going to the movie theater.

Others, like Indiewire senior film critic David Ehrlich, disagree. “People still want to go to the movies,” he wrote in a response essay, “and whenever this pandemic ends, that desire won’t go away.” There could be a middle ground, of course, that people will want to go to the movies, but may also have rooms in their hearts (and wallets) to rent upcoming theatrical fare that doesn’t deliver, financially-speaking, in the manner that studios expect during their first few weeks of release.

Personally, when this is all over, I can’t wait to resume the time-honored tradition of going to the movie theater. (How else would you have me watch Fast and Furious 9?) Until that time comes, though, you can’t blame film lovers for making do with the options we have.

Where to watch The Invisible Man (2020)

Where to watch Emma (2020)

Where to watch The Hunt (2020)