Sony will make the Vin Diesel superhero movie “Bloodshot” available for purchase on digital beginning on March 24, less than two weeks after it opened in theaters on Friday amid the start of the coronavirus panic.
The film will be available next week for digital purchase for $19.99 in the U.S. on all digital retailers. International digital sale dates will be solidified in the days ahead with territory-specific COVID-19 impact considerations.
“Bloodshot” has already made $24.2 million worldwide including $9.7 million domestic.
Unlike Universal’s day-and-date move to digital rental with “Trolls: World Tour” and its other recent theatrical releases including “The Hunt,” “Emma.” and “The Invisible Man,” Sony and Columbia Pictures is taking a big step in making the film available for purchase so soon after its theatrical release.
“Sony Pictures is firmly committed to theatrical exhibition and we support windowing,” Tom Rothman, chairman of Sony Pictures Entertainment’s Motion Picture Group, said in a statement. “This is a unique and exceedingly rare circumstance where theaters have been required to close nationwide for the greater good and ‘Bloodshot’ is abruptly unavailable in any medium. Audiences will now have the chance to own ‘Bloodshot’ right away and see it at home, where we are all spending more time. We are confident that — like other businesses hit hard by the virus — movie theaters will bounce back strongly, and we will be there to support them.”
The coronavirus has taken a substantial toll on the industry, with more than 4000 theaters nationwide closing their doors for weeks in an attempt to curb the virus after large public gatherings were banned. Sony in particular pushed its film “Peter Rabbit 2: The Runaway” to a release on August 7 after it was meant to open in April, and it’s been forced to delay or suspend production on films such as the “Cinderella” film with Camila Cabello, the “Uncharted” video game adaptation with Tom Holland and Mark Wahlberg and the action comedy “The Man From Toronto” with Kevin Hart and Woody Harrelson.
“Bloodshot” is based on the comic book series from Valiant Entertainment, and it stars Diesel as a soldier recently killed in action who is brought back to life by a giant corporation and becomes an unstoppable super soldier able to heal instantly. But in controlling his body, the company has sway over his mind and memories, too, and he must figure out what’s real and what’s not.
David S. F. Wilson directed the film from a screenplay by Jeff Wadlow and Eric Heisserer. It also stars Eiza Gonzalez, Sam Heughan, Toby Kebbell and Guy Pearce.
“Bloodshot is presented by Columbia Pictures in association with Bona Film Group Co., Ltd. and Annabell Pictures & The Hideaway Entertainment. The producers are Neal H. Moritz, Toby Jaffe, Dinesh Shamdasani and Vin Diesel. Executive Producers are Dan Mintz, Louis G. Friedman, Yu Dong, Jeffrey Chan, Rita LeBlanc, Buddy Patrick and Matthew Vaughn.