Sony Pictures announced that it will make its new comic book film Bloodshot available to consumers next week, an unprecedented move, given that it’s still technically in theaters. The VOD release comes as thousands of theaters across the United States close due to the COVID-19 outbreak.
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Bloodshot follows Universal Pictures’ and Warner Bros. lead, which announced that they would be releasing The Invisible Man, The Hunt and Harley Quinn: Bird of Prey on VOD platforms early, and Disney, which released Frozen 2 months early on its streaming platform, Disney +.
The film will be available on a variety of platforms on March 24th in the United States, and will retail for $19.99. An international date hasn’t been set yet, but is expected soon.
In its announcement, Sony acknowledged that it’s an extraordinary situation, and that it remains committed to theatrical windows.
“This is a unique and exceedingly rare circumstance where theaters have been required to close nationwide for the greater good and Bloodshot is abruptly unavailable in any medium. Audiences will now have the chance to own Bloodshot right away and see it at home, where we are all spending more time.”
The film is based on the Valiant Comics character, and stars Diesel as Ray Garrison, a Marine who was killed in battle and resurrected, given superpowers, and controlled by a mysterious organization called Rising Spirit Tech. The film is designed as the first film in an overarching cinematic universe for Sony, which has other films in the franchise in the works.
The film hit theaters last week, and earned a meager $24.5 million dollars over the weekend. The timing is unfortunate as the COVID-19 outbreak depressed this weekend’s box office, the worst since 1995. A number of studios have delayed their other upcoming offerings, such as Fast & Furious 9, A Quiet Place Part 2, No Time To Die and Black Widow.
