16 new movies you can watch at home with theaters shut down

March 27, 2020

By Kim Komando

Coronavirus and COVID-19 are reshaping the world in ways we couldn’t have imagined. Some of the biggest events and industries are either postponing or shutting down, and millions of jobs now hang in the balance.

But few industries are more visibly impacted than Hollywood, which has seen an unprecedented decline in both business and movie attendance. As if things weren’t hard enough with the streaming industry breathing down its neck. Tap or click here to see how all the streaming services compare.

The epidemic is hurting the movie industry so badly that theaters across America are closing indefinitely. But Hollywood doesn’t plan on taking this crisis lying down. The film industry has plans to release some of the latest movies early on some streaming services. Here’s how to watch.

Redefining the ‘home theater’

According to an announcement made by NBCUniversal’s CEO Jeff Shell, the company will be taking the unprecedented step of teeing up brand new movies for a widespread digital release — and other major studios are joining in as well. In fact, Disney has already released “Frozen II” to its streaming platform.

This comes in light of the CDC’s new guidelines, which specify reducing mass gatherings of people and restricting groups to 10 individuals or less.

All these requirements go hand-in-hand with the nation’s plan to “flatten the curve” of infection going forward. Tap or click to find out how sanitizing your phone can help flatten the curve.

In response to CDC guidelines, theater chains across the nation are shuttering their doors. This led to numerous marquee films being cut or removed from upcoming releases, like Marvel’s “Black Widow” and “Fast and Furious 9.”

Rather than simply cancel all upcoming films, multiple studios are choosing to embrace our new housebound way of living. They’re planning on releasing a slate of films early for streaming video and rental services — including several that never made it to the silver screen.

What new films can I watch from home?

These are the current films that are, or will be, available for streaming and rental release in the next several weeks:

1. “The Hunt” – March 20
2. “Emma” – March 20
3. “The Invisible Man” – March 20
4. “Just Mercy” – March 24
5. “Birds of Prey” – March 24
6. “The Way Back” – March 24
7. “Bloodshot” – March 24
8. “I Still Believe” – March 27
9. “The Call of the Wild” – March 27
10. “Downhill” – March 27
11. “Sonic the Hedgehog” – March 31
12. “Bad Boys for Life” – March 31
13. “Impractical Jokers: The Movie” – April 1
14. “Trolls World Tour” – April 10
15. “Frozen II” – Available now exclusively on Disney +
16. “Onward” – April 3 exclusively on Disney +

Expect the list to grow as more and more people tune in to watch. Following the pandemic, we may even see a paradigm shift in the way we watch movies online.

Just like how we’re quickly discovering that working from home can replace in-person meetings, we may realize movie theaters aren’t necessary to enjoy Hollywood’s latest hits. Besides, who wants to deal with sticky floors and crying babies, anyway?