In this new post-COVID-19 world, we start to measure the “success” of a film differently when it’s released on VOD versus theatrical. We saw that Universal is already doing that when the studio discusses “Trolls World Tour.” And now, Vertical Entertainment, who partnered with Redbox Entertainment for the film’s distribution, is touting some pretty impressive numbers for its indie drama, “Capone,” which stars Tom Hardy and is directed by Josh Trank.
According to Deadline, Vertical said the new film from Trank has pulled in more than $2.5 million over the first 10 days of release on VOD. Obviously, that number is well below the ridiculous $100 million that ‘Trolls 2’ did last month, but when you consider the audience and marketing push for both films, the performance of “Capone” is almost more impressive.
“We are incredibly impressed with the attention and interest surrounding ‘Capone,’” said Vertical Entertainment. “Although we wish the film could have premiered in theaters as originally intended, we could not be more thrilled with the success of the VOD home premiere release. Thanks to the hard work of everyone involved, including the incredible support from our cable partners, this opening has surpassed all of our expectations and we look forward to seeing ‘Capone’ continue to find its audience during these uncertain times.”
To better understand this success and to put it in context, VOD sales means more revenue for studios versus the split seen in a theatrical release. Generally, a studio sees 80% of the sales on VOD versus the approximately 50% that is seen in theatrical. Not only that, even if “Capone” was released in theaters, it would have been a limited run and not some 4,000 location debut like a superhero film would have received.
Take a look at a film from 2019, “Honey Boy.” The film is regarded as one of the best of the year, was nominated for awards, and had a major star in one of its lead roles (Shia LaBeouf). “Honey Boy” also had buzz similar to “Capone,” with an off-screen story driving interest. (In the case of “Honey Boy,” it’s the autobiographical nature of the film, and in “Capone,” it’s the fact that Josh Trank is making his return to filmmaking after the “Fantastic Four” flop.) All that to say, these are two films that seemingly have relatively similar trajectories. Except “Honey Boy” was released in theaters and earned just over $3 million domestically in its entire theatrical run. Now, “Capone” has already come close to matching that on VOD in only 10 days. Of course, “Honey Boy” did make money on VOD, but even still, you can see why Vertical and the folks involved with “Capone” are happy with this release strategy.
It’ll be interesting to see if films like “Capone” don’t rush out to theaters in the future and instead try to make the most of VOD. Because apparently, if you promote the film enough and have some buzz, you can maybe do even better than just releasing a film in theaters.
Either way, good for Josh Trank, Tom Hardy, Vertical, and everyone involved. “Capone” is already a hit.