More than half (55%) of US studio movies took 90 days or more to hit subscription streaming platforms in 2024, according to new research by Ampere Analysis. The 90-day new normal for big-budget films reflects studios’ revived strategy of encouraging US audiences back to movie theatres by delaying movie releases on streaming. With box office revenue down in key overseas markets like China and the possibility of tariff-related disruption on the horizon, studios are taking action to protect the box office at home.

Wide-release movies distributed domestically by the five major US studios last year took an average of 87 days post-release in theatres to reach subscription streaming platforms. The average number of days it takes studio movies to reach streaming platforms is up almost 20% from 2022, when just over a quarter of such movies took 90 days or more to reach streaming.  Keeping big-budget movies off the streaming services for 90 days reflects studios’ reasserted strategy of enticing US audiences back into seeing movies in theatres, or at a premium price point at home.

In a year when studio theatrical schedules continued to feel the residual impacts of 2023 production delays, Universal retained the largest slate and broadest range of windowing strategies. Its movies reached Peacock anywhere between 49 days and 120 days (Despicable Me 4) after theatrical release.

2024 box office leader Disney’s average was dragged down by lower-budget titles, while the rest of its franchise-heavy slate waited 98 days on average to be released to the studio’s streaming services, with Deadpool & Wolverine, Inside Out 2, and Moana 2 all dropping on Disney+ after over 100 days.

Paramount was an outlier among the majors and sent movies to its streaming platform earlier than any other, while Sony, the only major studio without a streaming service, maintained the longest average transactional window (106 days) via its US Pay-1 licensing deal with Netflix.

By and large, studios have weaned US audiences off the expectation that they need only wait a month or so for the latest blockbusters on streaming. The domestic theatrical market was down 4% year-on-year in 2024 and remains somewhat fragile. Studio movies are still available for premium rental or purchase at home much earlier than was the norm pre-pandemic to maximise transactional revenues. But a key milestone is the fact that the majority of movies are now taking 90 days or more to reach studios’ subscription platforms. 

The data in this insight is drawn from Ampere's new Movies service. Ampere’s Movies service tracks new films from major studios, distributors, and platforms through all stages of development and production. The data allows for in-depth analysis of release strategies across theatrical and streaming, with users able to track the number of days before a studio’s theatrical movies reach their streaming platforms, and cross-cut releases in major US and European markets with banded box office data to benchmark success. Contact our Sales team to learn more info@ampereanalysis.com