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Streaming Wars is a weekly opinion column By Amelia Emberwing, IGN’s Streaming Editor. Check out the latest entry: If the Superman trailer got you excited, it’s time to check out the Arrowverse.
On December 26, Universal Pictures Home Entertainment announced that Wicked would be available to buy or rent at home starting December 31, with a physical release scheduled for February 4, 2025. which I talked about with director Jon M. Chu in the video below), a song, two commentary tracks — one with Chu and co-stars Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande — and a ton. more There’s no doubting the value here (even if you don’t buy anything digitally), but so what has it’s come whether it’s too early to give the theatrical wonder a chance at home given how well it’s doing at the box office, as the digital release falls barely a month after the film’s theatrical release.
I’m of two minds here.
The first is that I really like movie theaters, so of course I want them to continue to get what they can from whatever blockbusters are available. I know this is inherently a complicated conversation, given how corporations and studios have made it more expensive to see things in theaters over the years along with the constant abhorrent behavior of theatergoers (put the damn phone down). But mostly, I just say visit your mom-and-pop theaters whenever and wherever you can. Big releases like Wicked also help them tremendously.
This side of the conversation is much more complicated. Yes, I want movie theaters—especially small ones—to survive, and they need all the wins they can get these days, but I also want people who can’t go to movie theaters to be able to experience art.
One day, probably decades from now at this rate, sociologists will look back on how we as a culture didn’t decide that COVID wasn’t a problem, we all left behind the delusion that we couldn’t live with it. We’ve largely abandoned masking as well, though knowing that masks help mitigate the spread of COVID and other viruses as a scientific fact. Along with that, vaccination rates are getting lower and lower.
I’m not here to preach, and I’m not here to make an argument. The point is that COVID remains a huge risk to anyone who is immunocompromised, and prolonged COVID can affect anyone. That’s why there are significant groups of communities all over the planet who can’t risk their health by entering a movie theater with massive ventilation and a bunch of unmasked residents.
Also, going to the movies is not an expense that many American families can afford, prices being what they are. Matinees are also huge expenses in major metros of the country. In LA, a trip to AMC for four people (two parents, two kids) will set you back an astronomical $110.72. I can’t give it up every time I want to go see a movie, and I can’t expect other people to do it when they have money to feed.
Of course, there’s always the understanding that this is a business decision on Universal’s part, and that decision ultimately rests with the almighty dollar. Therefore, it may seem impossible to consider people who cannot attend. But in this case, I think the impact matters more than the intentions. Whether the decision is financial or otherwise, it’s still easier for a family to pay for a single rent or digital purchase than it is to pay for a trip to the movies.
I want movie theaters to survive, but I also want people to be able to watch movies. I wish we lived in a world where it’s easy to say that Wicked should continue to grace screens as long as it’s financially viable for theaters, but there’s a lot more to the conversation than that. Because of the human element, I can’t say it’s too soon for Wicked to go digital. Everyone deserves a short day in Oz. (Even if the wizard is a tyrant.)
