'Trolls World Tour' Streaming Causes Rift Between Movie Theaters And Movie Studios

LOS ANGELES (CBSLA) -- With the new movie "Trolls: World Tour" now available for streaming, movie theaters are fighting back against the movie studios.

"Traditionally, they get three months to show movies in cinemas and then they share the revenue there with studios," said Hollywood Reporter International Business Editor Georg Szalai. "The worry with cinemas is that they will get cut out especially in the digital age where people are getting used to watching things at home on the sofa."

Movie theaters were forced to shut their doors due to the coronavirus pandemic.

In response, many studios released new movies, like "Trolls," on-demand -- with higher revenue than expected.

"What really bothered the cinema operators was that Universal touted its success, saying, hey we brought $100 million dollars in the first three weeks, which is better than what people expected," Szalai said.

NBCUniversal says that while cinemas will still be the studio's first choice, they are considering releasing more movies straight to viewers' homes.

This week, AMC fired back, saying they would stop playing all current and future Universal films at their theaters unless the two reach an agreement.

"I think that everyone saw this as a sign that this is a viable option, but they'll pick and choose films," Szalai said. "Maybe movies that would get this kind of release would be movies that do not see too much foot traffic, movies that aren't getting much buzz before their release."

Other changes Szalai expects to take place at theaters once they're able to operate normally again include more sanitation, physical distancing and possible airport-level screenings.