Right now, it’s not a smart move to visit a theater, what with the whole deadly pandemic that’s easily spread in dark rooms with air conditioning. That’s why Orion is releasing Bill & Ted Face the Music both in cinemas (for the brave) and on-demand at the same time. On September 1st, the film will hit any willing theater, as well as pay-per-view. Party on (at home), dude.
The hybrid approach has long been resisted by theaters, who feel exclusivity is the only thing keeping their businesses afloat. Universal, which had a slate of summer movies cancelled thanks to COVID-19, took its catalog to on-demand. That included Emma, The Invisible Man and Trolls: World Tour, with the rumors suggesting that while returns were modest, the releases were more profitable than if they’d been in cinemas.