Simultaneous release

A simultaneous release, also known as a day-and-date release, is the release of a film on multiple platforms—most commonly theatrical, home video and video on demand (VOD)—on the exact same day, or in very close proximity to each other. This is in contrast to the industry standard of having a window of exclusivity (usually 90 days) between the theatrical and home video releases.

The concept was used by several independent films released in the 2000s. In the mid-2010s, the subscription streaming service Netflix began to perform simultaneous releases of its feature films, by means of a limited theatrical release, accompanied by international availability on the Netflix service. As of Roma in 2018, Netflix began a practice of giving its films a three-week limited release before they become available on the service, which is still shorter than standard.

Due to their disruptive nature, simultaneous releases have faced mixed reactions from the industry. Advocates have considered them a means of catering to consumer choice and improving the accessibility of film, and critics arguing that they dilute box office revenue by requiring cinemas to compete with premature availability of a film on home video, and are detrimental to the traditional movie-going experience. Most major cinema chains require films to have an exclusive theatrical window of a minimum length (which in some countries is also enforced by law), so films that pursue a simultaneous release or shorter window are typically screened at independent and art house cinemas only.

Until 2020, the only film that had been released in such a manner by a major film studio was The Interview, which resorted to simultaneous releases via cinemas and digital rentals due to unforeseen circumstances inhibiting a wide theatrical release. The COVID-19 pandemic led to a wider number of simultaneous releases among major studios (either via digital rentals, or availability on a parent company's subscription streaming service) for a period from mid-2020 through mid-2021, due to cinemas not operating in all jurisdictions. With the reopening of cinemas, as well as contractual agreements with exhibitors mandating theatrical exclusivity, most major film distributors ended most of their simultaneous releases by mid-2021, with some exceptions (including several family films in late-2021 due to COVID-19 vaccines not yet being approved for children in the United States).

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