Why studios are reshaping movie releases to optimize transactional revenue

Key takeaways

• The 90-Day Window Is Over: The average theatrical-to-transactional release window has collapsed from 90 days to 30 over the past five years, becoming a core lever for revenue optimization.

• One Size Doesn’t Fit All: Studios are abandoning a uniform approach in favor of title-specific strategies that balance box office longevity with early digital monetization.

• Streaming Strategy Shapes Windowing: Studios with owned platforms (e.g., Disney+, Peacock, Max) use transactional windows to boost ecosystem value, while Sony leverages consistency and licensing flexibility.

• Transactional Releases Bridge Revenue Gaps: Early access through TVOD/PVOD/EST helps studios recoup production costs faster and maintain cash flow between theatrical and subscription streaming windows.

• Data-Driven Forecasting Is Critical: Success in 2025 will depend on predictive modeling that weighs content type, timing, audience behavior, and distribution partnerships to avoid cannibalizing box office gains.

The 30-day dilemma: studios race to optimize theatrical-to-streaming windows

As the film industry prioritizes profitability, studios need to solve a hard math problem: what is the optimal length of time between theatrical and streaming release? The answer, according to release trends, is “less than ever.”  

In the last five years, the average period between a movie’s cinema debut and its direct-to-consumer (DTC) streaming release has plummeted from 90 days to 30 days1 This theatrical-to-transactional release window has become a strategic lever.  

In the current market, studio executives are motivated to capture streaming revenue and quickly recoup production costs to free cash flow. Certain consumers are willing to pay for TVOD/PVOD, EST, and even SVOD – provided that they gain access to timely, premium, exclusive content.  

But simply accelerating transactional release dates does not guarantee profitability in 2025. More precise calculations are required to maximize digital rentals and sales without cannibalizing box office revenue. A closer look at data for six major studios2 reveals that a more nuanced window strategy has emerged.

• NBCUniversal: Strategically Shrinking Theatrical Windows 
• Disney: Recalibrating After the Streaming Surge 
• Lionsgate: Lean and Transactional-First 
• Paramount: From Traditionalist to Aligned Strategist  
• Sony: The Steady Arms Dealer  
• Warner Bros. Discovery: From Experimentation to Convergence 

3Vision Movie Tracker data reveals the evolving average time from theatrical debut to transactional release from the major studios, offering a useful lens into the varying motivations behind window strategies. 

NBCUniversal: strategically shrinking theatrical windows

NBCUniversal’s windowing strategy has undergone one of the most dramatic shifts in the film industry. In 2022, the studio averaged a 64-day window between theatrical and transactional release. By 2024, that figure had plummeted to just 20 days—one of the most aggressive reductions among the majors.

This compression reflects NBCUniversal’s strategic emphasis on sequencing transactional releases ahead of films’ availability on its Peacock streaming service, which often arrives earlier than competing services’ Pay-One windows. 

However, major box office successes like Wicked and Oppenheimer were treated as exceptions, receiving longer theatrical runs before reaching Peacock. These outliers demonstrate a flexible strategy informed by title-specific performance variations.

Projected box office sales can justify delaying the transactional release, especially for prestige or tentpole titles.

Disney: recalibrating after the streaming surge

Disney’s window strategy has fluctuated notably over the past few years. Initially focused on the launch and support of Disney+, the studio experimented with delaying transactional availability until after titles premiered on the streaming platform’s Pay-One window. This lengthened the average time between theatrical and digital release dates, particularly in 2023. 

However, 2024 marked a strategic reversal. Disney appears to have aligned its transactional launches more closely with theatrical release (typically a couple of weeks before its release on Disney+). This shift likely reflects the studio’s interest in maximizing revenue across windows while recalibrating the role of Disney+ within its broader distribution model. 

For a large studio with its own streaming service, shortening theatrical-to-transactional release windows can fulfill strategic objectives to bolster streaming and diversify revenue.  

Lionsgate: lean and transactional-first

In contrast, Lionsgate has consistently pursued a short theatrical-to-transactional window—historically the shortest among major studios. With no first-party streaming platform competing for exclusive early access (outside of Starz, for now), Lionsgate has positioned transactional releases as a key revenue driver. 

Notably, the studio has continued to shorten the theatrical-to-transactional window even further. By accelerating digital release, Lionsgate ensures more lead time before titles transition to Starz or other third-party streaming platforms. This strategy can serve both the bottom line and licensing relationships, while also catering to audiences eager for quick digital access.  

Accurate, scenario-based forecasting – adjusting for variables like title, streaming service, and time period – empowers studios to maximize the revenue generated by a relatively early transactional release. 

Paramount: from traditionalist to aligned strategist 

Paramount has historically maintained one of the longest theatrical-to-transactional windows, averaging roughly 90 days in 2022. However, the company has since dramatically shortened this period (30 days, as of 2024), aligning more closely with the streaming-first strategy tied to Paramount+.

In many cases, Paramount is releasing films early on TVOD/PVOD, often on the same day they debut on Paramount+, ahead of a regular transactional release. It’s a notable shift from the studio’s pre-streaming conservatism and reflects a more modern windowing philosophy designed to serve multiple distribution channels at once.

A simultaneous theatrical/transactional window not only offers flexibility to consumers but also helps boost visibility and cross-platform awareness.

Sony: the steady arms dealer

Sony Pictures has taken a remarkably consistent approach to release windows. With no in-house streaming service to prioritize, Sony has leaned into a predictable average of 45 days between theatrical and transactional release. This schedule suits their broader distribution model, which includes a significant Pay-One licensing deal with Netflix it signed in 2021, after previously licensing to Starz since 2006.

This “arms dealer” approach—selling content broadly rather than funnelling it to an owned platform—has enabled Sony to maximize transactional revenue while retaining the flexibility to license titles downstream.

In a marketplace filled with shifting windows and direct-to-streaming pivots, Sony’s consistency stands out.

Warner Bros. Discovery: from experimentation to convergence

Warner Bros. Discovery has increasingly used transactional releases as part of a broader experiment with shortened release windows. In 2021, the studio made headlines by sending its entire theatrical slate day-and-date to HBO Max (now Max). Since then, it has retreated from that extreme but continues to experiment with varied timing strategies.

By 2024, Warner had significantly shortened the average time to transactional release, frequently releasing titles to streaming just a few weeks after theatrical. This strategy complements its shifting Max release schedule. As with NBCUniversal, exceptions do still occur, with smash hits like Barbie taking over two months to reach transactional release.

By leveraging TVOD/PVOD models, studios can create a revenue bridge between theatrical exclusivity and streaming availability and make their streaming services more appealing to consumers.

Conclusion: a fragmented but focused future

Theatrical-to-transactional release windows are no longer governed by a one-size-fits-all rule.

Studios are tailoring strategies based on their broader ecosystem—whether that’s Disney+ and Max, or partnerships like Sony’s Netflix deal, with individual titles’ performance at the box office bending their rules even further.

The transactional market remains an essential component of a film’s commercial lifecycle. In an era of streaming dominance and theatrical recalibration, its role as both a revenue driver and audience touchpoint has only grown in importance.

The trend toward shorter theatrical runs reflects more than changing audience behavior. The media industry must continually adapt to the complexities of modern content distribution. Real-time and predictive revenue data for every title and distribution channel (theatrical, TVOD/PVOD, streaming) empowers studios to further optimize window strategies in 2025.