‘King of Staten Island’ tests the grown-up appetite for digital movies

“Trolls World Tour” amply demonstrated that there’s an audience for family-friendly movies via premium video on demand. Now comes another test for the platform, as “The King of Staten Island,” a Judd Apatow comedy starring “Saturday Night Live” star Pete Davidson, premiered on demand Friday.

The R-rated movie, which follows Davidson’s life as a twenty-something who lost his firefighter father at a young age, was set to be the first major test of the “SNL” star’s ability to join other cast members who’ve successfully crossed over to film. It’s also the latest attempt by the film’s studio, Universal Pictures, to mine box-office gold from Apatow, one of the most popular directors and producers in comedy.

The coronavirus pandemic changed that calculus by redirecting the film from theaters to video on demand.“The King of Staten Island” thus becomes the latest test of that platform, and the extent to which its demographic viability goes beyond the kid-friendly appeal of movies like “Trolls.”

“I think what’s happening here is that studios are deciding which films will go to digital on a case-by-case basis,” Paul Dergarabedian, senior media analyst at Comscore (SCOR), told CNN Business. “Comedy has not really been a strong genre at the box office lately, so if ‘Staten Island’ is a digital hit maybe that sends a signal to the studios that this genre is better suited for the small screen in the future.”

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It also may signal that direct-to-digital “isn’t just for animated family films anymore,” Dergarabedian added. Then again, digital and streaming services have “always been a great home for comedy,” so it’s “really hard to tell what impact it might have.”

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Making its debut during shelter-at-home orders in April, “Trolls” was a big success for Universal, so much so that it angered theater owners like AMC (AMC) when the studio crowed that the animated sequel amassed five million rentals — almost $100 million in revenue — within weeks of its availability.

Other family films like “Scoob!,” from Warner Bros., which like CNN is a unit of WarnerMedia, and Disney’s “Artemis Fowl,” which debuted on Disney+ Friday, also bypassed theaters.

Most films that have skipped a theatrical release have been children’s fare and smaller, more character-driven films. Anticipated blockbusters, including Disney’s “Mulan,” Marvel’s “Black Widow” and Universal’s “F9,” have postponed their releases rather than skip theaters altogether.

This makes “Staten Island” one of the most notable adult, live-action films to hit digital yet. Still, the comedy will have a fair amount of company this month, not all of it aimed at a family-friendly crowd.

Spike Lee’s latest film, “Da 5 Bloods,” premiered Friday via Netflix (NFLX), while “Irresistible,” a political satire starring Steve Carell and directed by Jon Stewart, lands on June 26.

Other recent releases include the musical drama “The High Note” and “Shirley,” starring Elisabeth Moss. Additional films that have shifted to digital or streaming in the weeks ahead include “The Outpost,” director Rod Lurie’s adaptation of the book by CNN’s Jake Tapper; and “Hamilton,” a film version of the hit Broadway musical with the original cast, which will stream on Disney+.

A successful digital release of “Staten Island” and films like it would show that many genres can be successful without a theatrical release. That could further embolden studios to amend how long films stay in theaters — a strategy that theater owners have long resisted.

“The more data the studios have on what types of film will work on digital platforms will certainly have a cause-and-effect on release strategies going forward,” Jeff Bock, a senior analyst at entertainment research firm Exhibitor Relations, told CNN Business.

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However, it’s hard to gauge how digitally-released films perform since studios don’t release much information about them. That also takes away a promotional opportunity — the familiar advertising pitch to “go see the No. 1 movie!”

“Box-office numbers serve a marketing purpose as much as a metric of success,” Dergarabedian said. “Without it, it takes away a giant puzzle piece that allows the industry to know what’s working and allows audiences to know if a movie is worth their time, or more importantly, their money.”

Despite Hollywood’s current digital revolution, studio officials are restating their commitment to theatrical distribution — a model that still gives them the biggest bang for their bucks. Movie theaters are tentatively beginning to reopen, with California approving a plan that would allow them to operate with limited capacity. AMC, the world’s largest movie theater owner, said this week that all its theaters worldwide will open again in July.

Even so, it’s clear that studios want more latitude on how they release their films going forward, and digital data from this summer will inform those decisions. That has implications for how they operate for the duration of the pandemic and beyond.

“For many potential consumers, the pandemic won’t end until there’s a vaccine widely available,” Bock said. “And digital is a viable option to retain that consumer base and increase the studio’s bottom line.”