Warner Bros.’ current theatrical release The Way Back joins the pack of recent pics making their way into homes much sooner as the coronavirus crisis has shuttered cinemas nationwide. The pic will be available for electronic sell-through stateside on Tuesday, March 24, which is the same day that Birds of Prey will be made available, at the price of $19.99. The pic’s EST rollout in offshore territories will follow.
The Ben Affleck movie, directed by Gavin O’Connor, follows a former high school basketball champ who gets the opportunity to coach the struggling team at his alma mater while contending with his alcoholism. The pic opened March 6 and has grossed $13.6M at the domestic box office. The drama opened in Australia last weekend where it made $362K. O’Connor co-wrote the movie with Brad Ingelsby. The movie has an 83% certified fresh score on Rotten Tomatoes.
“With audiences largely unable to view films in theatrical release under current circumstances, we have decided to provide the alternative of early digital ownership of our currently released titles to people looking for great entertainment options,” said Toby Emmerich, Chairman, Warner Bros. Pictures Group, “So, while we remain big fans of the theatrical experience and hope audiences are able to return to cinemas in the near future, we understand that these are challenging times and offering this option simply makes sense.”
The Way Back follows Universal’s The Invisible Man, The Hunt, Focus Features’ Emma (available this Friday for 48-hour rental), Sony’s Bloodshot (out on EST also March 24), and Lionsgate’s I Still Believe (March 27), all of which are becoming available in the home significantly sooner as most theaters have shut down out of safety during the coronavirus outbreak. The expectation by some is that cinemas could be closed until the end of May.
At this time, Warner Bros. is still planning to release Wonder Woman 1984 on June 5 in theaters.