Audiences expecting to see the big-screen collaboration between comedy king Judd Apatow
and Saturday Night Live's Pete Davidson got a rude awakening after Universal pulled the
film just two days before it was set to release.
With most theaters still closed nationwide and few new releases available in the country's
handful of open indoor and drive-in establishments, audiences are starved for new movie material.
So it's no surprise that those who purchased tickets for Thursday night and weekend screenings
of Davidson's semi-autobiographical dramedy were angry when they discovered their tickets
had been refunded.
News of the cancellations first came on the Thursday before the movie's opening weekend,
when establishments like the Warwick Drive-In in New York and the Rustic Tri View Drive-In
in Rhode Island began posting their refund policies and announcing the nixed screenings.
In response to faulty information circulating online prior to the movie's release, Apatow
took to Twitter to try to clarify the situation.
In an all-caps announcement, the Freaks and Geeks and Pineapple Express producer tweeted,
"THE KING OF STATEN ISLAND IS ONLY OPENING ON VOD FRIDAY.
IT IS NOT OPENING IN THEATERS."
In response to a Twitter user who pointed out it was scheduled to appear at their local
theater, Apatow replied,
"It won’t be playing there.
It is a mistake.
It is only on VOD."
So... what happened?
"Nobody told you about V-O-D?"
"...What is that?"
Variety reports that the screening cancellations weren't the fault of theater owners, who were
also in the dark about the move.
One anonymous independent theater owner even told the outlet that there was not immediately
any explanation provided about the abrupt reversal, and that the studio merely, quote,
"changed their mind."
Insiders at the studio confirmed this to Variety, revealing that the last-minute decision to
pull The King of Staten Island from theaters was the result of a major mix-up linked to
Universal's controversial video-on-demand release strategy.
"You make everyone around you feel crazy."
Speaking on the basis of anonymity, Universal studio insiders confirmed to Variety that
the company's original release intentions were focused exclusively on a VOD release.
It was an internal misunderstanding among executives that led to the film wrongly being
sold to around 100 theaters nationwide before studio leadership had to reach out to theater
owners and request they not screen the film.
The move angered some, with one Twitter user sarcastically tweeting, "Real class act, Universal,"
in response to Apatow's tweets.
An unnamed screen operator shared that disgruntled ticket-holders had passed along similar sentiments
to them.
The source told Variety,
"This caused a considerable amount of ill will with customers who bought tickets online
showing up for the Thursday 7 p.m. show."
That wasn't the only misstep Universal made around the release of The King of Staten Island,
either.
Another anonymous theater owner revealed that before Universal abruptly yanked one of its
latest films from playing on the big screen, the studio negotiated questionable ticket
sales terms with theaters.
Reports indicate that the studio pushed for profit-sharing terms that split ticket earnings
evenly with the cinemas, something that's traditionally only done with major releases.
In a time when theaters are being hit particularly hard due to industry-wide closures, some viewed
the ask as too demanding.
Especially as the film, which would have mostly screened at drive-ins, would have also been
available to rent at similar ticket costs online.
As one independent theater owner put it,
"They wanted 2019 terms in 2020 conditions.
This is a new landscape."
The incident with The King of Staten Island isn't the only thing Universal has done lately
that's made distributors angry.
Following the VOD release of Trolls World Tour, NBCUniversal CEO Jeff Shell implied
the studio was seriously considering on-demand as a new distribution stream post-pandemic.
The comment sparked a heated back-and-forth in the press between the studio, the popular
cinema chain AMC Theatres, and the National Association of Theatre Owners.
At the time, Adam Aron, AMC Theatres' chair-CEO, declared in a letter that the company would
"no longer play any Universal movies in any of our theaters in the United States, Europe
or the Middle East" putting major tentpoles like F9 in jeopardy after they were delayed
to ensure a proper theatrical release.
Patrick Corcoran, vice president and CCO of the National Association of Theatre Owners,
also called the Comcast-owned studio out, stating,
"Universal has a destructive tendency to ... announce decisions affecting their exhibitor partners
without actually consulting with those partners."
It was largely believed that things were still tense between the three entities until Variety
reported that during a recent earnings call, Aron attempted to quell the flames from their
public fight earlier this year.
He told the outlet,
"Relations are warm with Universal.
Relations with Universal have always been warm.
There is nothing personal about this issue with Universal ... this is just an issue about
money."
While things may have warmed, the response to Universal's latest move is looking more
like The King of Staten Island mishap may re-ignite that fight.
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