Trolls World Tour’s digital success isn’t going to kill cinemas

Fears about the impact of video-on-demand releases are overstated, says James Moore. If cinemas can work with the social distancing that may be necessary for some time, they should be about to bounce back

Universal turned on a dime, throwing the film into the perfect market of locked-down families during the extended Easter weekend (AP)

Trolls are the monsters hanging over cinema chains, at least in the minds of some financial hawks.

With the coronavirus pandemic having shuttered theatres, Universal pitched the sugar-coated sequel Trolls World Tour straight into the video-on-demand market with a £15.99 price tag (UK), $20 in the US.

Cinema at home appears to have worked for it. The title reportedly scored the biggest opening day and weekend for a digital release, a No 1 slot on Amazon, and a lot of speculation about the gross. Unfortunately, there isn’t yet a reliable means of calculating that for such a release.