It’s no longer common for movies to play in theaters for many months. While streaming and digital releases were already gaining popularity before the pandemic, the need to reach viewers at home accelerated this trend for film studios. Combined with rising ticket prices, movies are now available in theaters for a shorter amount of time.
However, each movie studio handles release schedules differently. Some still prioritize traditional movie theaters, while others quickly shift films to digital platforms in under a month. As these release patterns will likely continue to change – especially if Netflix buys Warner Bros. – it’s helpful to look at how the major studios operated throughout 2025.
As a movie fan, I really wanted to understand how different studios are approaching theatrical releases these days. So, I dug into the data for the major players – Disney, Warner Bros., Sony, Universal, and Paramount – plus some of the more interesting ones like A24, Neon, Lionsgate, and now Amazon MGM. I looked into how long each studio kept movies exclusively in theaters before making them available elsewhere. Here’s what I found, including which studios gave films the longest and shortest runs in cinemas.
Comparing Each Studio’s Theatrical Windows In 2025
Image via Disney
There are two main phases to consider when discussing how long movies play in theaters. The first is the ‘exclusive window’ – the time a film is only available to watch in cinemas, ending when it becomes available to rent or buy online. The second phase begins after the digital release, when the movie finally becomes available on streaming services and is no longer shown in theaters.
Disney held onto exclusive theatrical releases for the longest time compared to other studios. Their films – including those from Marvel, Pixar, and 20th Century – were in theaters for an average of 58.3 days before becoming available elsewhere. Unsurprisingly, Disney was also the top-earning studio in 2025.
| Rank | Studio | Average Gap Between Theatrical & Digital Release |
|---|---|---|
| 1) | Disney | 58.3 days |
| 2) | Paramount | 37.3 days |
| 3) | Amazon MGM | 36.0 days |
| 4) | Sony | 34.2 days |
| 5) | Neon | 33.4 days |
| 6) | Warner Bros. | 32.0 days |
| 7) | A24 | 31.1 days |
| 8) | Lionsgate | 25.8 days |
| 9) | Universal | 23.4 days |
I wasn’t too shocked to see Disney doing so well, but Paramount landing in second place definitely caught my attention! It’s interesting to think about how much the performance of Mission: Impossible — The Final Reckoning affected their average. That film stayed in theaters for quite a while longer than Paramount usually keeps a movie out. If they’d released it like their other films, their average would actually be around 30.3 days, which would drop them all the way to seventh place – pretty different, huh?
The rankings look very different when considering how quickly movies move to streaming. Several studios send films directly to their own streaming platforms, while others – like Neon, Sony, A24, and Lionsgate – have agreements with services like Hulu, Netflix, HBO Max, and Starz. Because of these arrangements, those four studios consistently appear in the top five and have significantly longer streaming windows than most others, with Disney being the main exception.
| Rank | Studio | Average Gap Between Theatrical & Streaming Release |
|---|---|---|
| 1) | Neon | 163.0 days |
| 2) | Lionsgate | 132.2 days |
| 3) | A24 | 123.3 days |
| 4) | Disney | 96.2 days |
| 5) | Sony | 95.9 days |
| 6) | Amazon MGM | 93.0 days |
| 7) | Universal | 81.2 days |
| 8) | Paramount | 79.4 days |
| 9) | Warner Bros. | 76.3 days |
When it comes to how long movies stay in theaters before becoming available for streaming, Neon consistently makes viewers wait the longest – averaging over five months. That’s a whole month longer than Lionsgate, which has the second-longest wait time. Disney also generally waits at least three months before adding films to Disney+.
Warner Bros. releases its movies on HBO Max very quickly, which often puts them at the bottom of the list when comparing studio performance. However, Paramount was the studio most dedicated to streaming. If you don’t count The Final Reckoning – which had a long 195-day theatrical window – Paramount typically streamed its films on Paramount+ after only about 60 days in theaters.
Based on this data, Disney clearly supports theatrical releases the most. They had films finish in both first and fourth place, a feat only matched by Neon and Sony when considering the length of time their films stayed in theaters. Warner Bros. and Universal, however, didn’t have any films rank among the top five in either category.
Here’s a breakdown for each studio, looking at things like their quickest and slowest turnaround times, typical patterns, and other important details. This is based on the overall data we’ve analyzed.
A24’s 2025 Theatrical Window Notes
A24 typically released its films on digital platforms after waiting over a month, usually around 32 or 39 days after their theatrical release. However, the film Opus, which didn’t perform well in theaters, became available digitally after just 18 days.
When it comes to how long A24 films were unavailable on streaming, viewers on HBO Max waited the longest to see Warfare. It took 154 days after its release before it became available, slightly longer than the 147-day wait for Materialists.
Interestingly, some films have become available on streaming services relatively quickly – the shortest wait was 112 days, seen with both The Legend of Ochi and The Smashing Machine. A24 is following this pattern with If I Had Legs, I’d Kick You, which is set to stream on HBO Max on January 30, 2026, also after a 112-day wait.
As a big movie fan, I noticed that information about Marty Supreme is missing here, and we still don’t have any news on when Eternity will be available to stream.
Amazon MGM’s 2025 Theatrical Window Notes
In 2025, Amazon MGM released just four films in cinemas, and each one had a unique release strategy.
Jason Statham’s film, A Working Man, had a very brief run in movie theaters – just 18 days – before becoming available to buy or rent digitally. However, it took Amazon a surprisingly long 159 days to add the film to its Prime Video streaming service. Both of these waiting periods were the longest and shortest of their kind for any movie released this year.
Amazon released both The Accountant 2 and After the Hunt on Prime Video just 41 days after they came out in theaters. After the Hunt skipped a traditional digital release altogether. In contrast, Sarah’s Oil was shown in theaters for 25 days, and there’s still no news on when it will be available to stream.
Disney’s 2025 Theatrical Window Notes
In 2025, Disney planned to release most of its movies through premium video on demand (PVOD) just 60 days after their theatrical release. Only three films – Snow White, The Roses, and Tron: Ares – became available digitally a bit sooner, after 53 days.
The movie Thunderbolts experienced the longest delay before becoming available on Disney+, waiting 117 days. This was two weeks longer than other recent releases like Captain America: Brave New World, Elio, and The Fantastic Four: First Steps, which had waits of 103 days. Snow White had the shortest wait, appearing on Disney+ after just 82 days.
The following Disney movies were excluded from the data analysis: Rental Family, Zootopia 2, Avatar: Fire and Ash, Is This Thing On?, and The Testament of Ann Lee.
Lionsgate’s 2025 Theatrical Window Notes
In 2025, Lionsgate experimented with different release strategies for its films. Some movies, like Den of Thieves 2: Pantera and The Strangers: Chapter 2, were available for home viewing just 18 days after hitting theaters. However, they gave Zachery Levi’s The Unbreakable Boy a longer theatrical run, with a 42-day window before it became available for home viewing.
Interestingly, The Unbreakable Boy waited the longest of any recent Lionsgate film to start streaming, taking 253 days to arrive on Starz. This is significantly longer than other releases; for comparison, the John Wick spin-off Ballerina became available after only 111 days. Lionsgate opted to release Den of Thieves 2 on Netflix much sooner, after just 69 days.
As a big fan of movies, I’ve been tracking streaming releases, and I wanted to share a quick note about a few titles. Unfortunately, The Housemaid came out too late in December for theaters to really impact the data I’ve collected. Plus, I’m still waiting to see Hurry Up Tomorrow, The Strangers: Chapter 2, Good Fortune, and Now You See Me: Now You Don’t show up on any streaming services, so they weren’t included in this round of data either. I’m hoping we get to see them soon!
Neon’s 2025 Theatrical Window Notes
Neon has fewer movies available in this data because Splitsville, Shelby Oaks, and Keeper aren’t currently on streaming services. However, Shelby Oaks, Keeper, and Together all became available digitally just 25 days after their theatrical release – that’s the fastest turnaround for Neon. The Life of Chuck took the longest to appear digitally, at 53 days.
Neon’s longest break between releasing films was 203 days, which occurred after The Life of Chuck. Their shortest gap was 130 days, following the release of Steven Soderbergh’s Presence.
Paramount’s 2025 Theatrical Window Notes
As discussed earlier, The Final Reckoning will significantly impact Paramount’s results in 2025. Tom Cruise’s film had unusually long delays before becoming available digitally (88 days) and on streaming services (195 days). In fact, The Final Reckoning has the longest digital release delay of any 2025 film I’ve observed.
Aside from the latest Mission: Impossible film, Paramount has a very reliable approach to releasing movies. All of their 2025 films became available on streaming services after about two months, with Regretting You being the only one that took 61 days instead of 60.
As a movie buff who keeps track of these things, I’ve noticed Paramount usually waits 32 days between a film’s initial release and making it available digitally. Only a couple of titles – Novocaine and The Smurfs – had a quicker turnaround at 25 days. So, when The SpongeBob Movie: Search For SquarePants eventually hits digital platforms, I’m guessing it’ll follow a similar timeline, though it hasn’t impacted these numbers just yet.
Sony’s 2025 Theatrical Window Notes
Sony generally releases its films in theaters for a moderate amount of time compared to other studios. Looking ahead to 2025, their planned releases typically have either a 25 or 39-day exclusive theatrical window – each approach is planned for four movies. The shortest window, 25 days, will be used for films like One of Them Days, Heart Eyes, A Big Bold Beautiful Journey, and Sisu: Road to Revenge. East of Wall will have the longest exclusive theatrical run at 53 days.
When Sony films started appearing on Netflix, One of Them Days became available after just 73 days – the shortest wait time of any Sony title. Karate Kid: Legends and Oh, Hi! had the longest wait, debuting after 120 days. All other Sony movies appeared on Netflix between 90 and 92 days after their theatrical release.
Currently, streaming data isn’t available for Anaconda and A Private Life. Additionally, East of Wall, A Big Bold Beautiful Journey, Eleanor the Great, Blue Moon, and Nuremberg haven’t provided any streaming data either.
Universal’s 2025 Theatrical Window Notes
©Universal Pictures/Courtesy Everett Collection
In 2025, Universal Pictures stood out as the studio least focused on traditional theatrical releases, finishing among the bottom three in both release window length categories. They consistently opted for a short, 18-day exclusive theatrical run for most of their films, with 13 movies following this pattern. While most releases were short, Wicked: For Good and The Ballad of Wallis Island were kept in theaters for a longer 39 days.
It took 120 days for both Dog Man and Jurassic World Rebirth to become available on Peacock, making it the longest wait time for any title. On the other hand, Honey Don’t had the shortest wait, appearing on the streaming service after just 42 days.
Okay, so a few titles didn’t make it into this week’s streaming data. Specifically, I couldn’t find any streaming info for Hamnet, Five Nights at Freddy’s 2, or Song Sung Blue. And as for upcoming releases, The Gabby’s Dollhouse Movie, Black Phone 2, and Wicked: For Good don’t have confirmed streaming debut dates just yet.
Warner Bros.’s 2025 Theatrical Window Notes
Warner Bros. had a very successful 2025 at the box office, achieving a record seven straight weekends where new movies opened to over $40 million. This is especially impressive because Warner Bros. tends to release its films for home viewing sooner than other major studios.
As a movie fan, I’ve noticed Warner Bros. usually puts its films on digital platforms around 32 days after their theatrical release. But Companion really broke the mold – it had the shortest theatrical window of the year at just 19 days! On the other end of the spectrum, One Battle After Another held on in theaters for 49 days, barely edging out Sinners which played exclusively in cinemas for 46 days – that was the longest wait for a WB film this year.
The film by Paul Thomas Anderson and Leonardo DiCaprio stood out from Warner Bros.’ usual practice of sending movies to streaming services. Warner Bros. typically made films available on streaming after around 77 or 78 days, but this film had an 84-day theatrical window. In contrast, ‘Superman’ went to HBO Max faster than any other Warner Bros. movie in 2025, becoming available after just 70 days.
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2026-01-06 20:19