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Prepping for Oscars Death Race - Time to PVOD and Time to Streaming by Studio - An Original Analysis

For folks like myself who engage with the Oscars by partaking of the Oscars Death Race (ie watching every nominee in all categories before the Oscars ceremony), one of the more stressful parts (especially for folks not based in NY or LA) is counting down to whether or not films will be available on PVOD or streaming in time, especially if they released later in the race. While for the most part it's been mostly possible to get most of the race done digitally, for folks who are lucky enough to be attending film festivals this weekend, it may behoove them to prioritize films that won't be easily accessible or may cut it close. And for films from certain distributors (cough Godzilla Minus One cough Boy and the Heron), if you miss it in theaters you may be out of luck entirely.

Below is a breakdown of the nominees from last year by studio, the number of days to PVOD and to streaming (and on which service), and then the films from said studio and their release dates and estimated PVOD / streaming date. Note that I am being a bit generous with things that could possibly be nominated even they are not currently favorites to be so (see Hexed from WDAS for animated).

For those trying to finish as much of the race prior to nominations, the target date is Jan 21, 2027

For those trying to finish the race before hte ceremony, the target date is Mar 14, 2027

Also as is often the case on reddit, this is a US Centric list. YMMV if you live in another country.

A24

Last year, Marty Supreme, If I Had Legs I'd Kick You, and Smashing Machine took between 32 and 47 days to come to PVOD, and between 112 and 120 days to come to streaming on HBO Max (due to the agreement between A24 and WBD)

This year's films from A24 are

  • The Drama - 4/3 Release - Already on HBO Max
  • Backrooms - 5/29 Release - Already on PVOD - 9/26 Est SVOD
  • The Invite - 6/26 Release - Already on PVOD - 10/24 Est SVOD
  • Tony - 8/7 Release - PVOD on 9/15 - 12/5 Est SVOD
  • Primetime - 9/25 Release - 11/3 Est PVOD - 1/23 Est SVOD
  • Misty Green - 10/9 Release - 11/17 Est PVOD - 2/6 Est SVOD
  • You Can See Everything - 10/16 Release - 11/24 Est PVOD - 2/13 Est SVOD
  • Club Kid - 11/6 Release - 12/15 Est PVOD - 3/6 Est SVOD
  • The Debut - 12/11 Release - 1/19 Est PVOD - 4/10 Est SVOD

Apple

Apple's main films this year already have their SVOD on AppleTV+ dates announced, so no worries here

  • Tenzing - 10/16
  • Being Heumann - 11/13

Disney / Pixar / 20th Century / Searchlight

First the animated films. Elio (Pixar) was 60 days to PVOD and 89 days to SvOD on Disney+. Zootpia 2 (WDAS) was 62 days to SVOD and 105 days to SVOD. Thus looking at Disney's animated slate this year

  • Hoppers (Pixar) - 3/3 Release - Already on Disney+
  • Toy Story 5 (Pixar) - 6/19 Release - Already on PVOD - 9/23 Release on Disney+
  • Hexed (WDAS) - 11/25 Release - 1/24 Est PVOD - 3/10 Est SVOD

For live action films, Avatar last year was 102 days to PVOD and 187 on SVOD. Though I think that is a bit of a unique case due to how much its theatrical box office was. Unfortunately Searchlight did not have a nominated film for comparison - instead I'll use Rental Family and Testament of Ann Lee as comparisons, plus A Complete Unknown from the year before. These films had an average of 63 days to PVOD and 92 days to SVOD on Hulu. Springsteen Deliver Me from Nowhere from 20th Century also had about 60 / 90 days for PVOD SVOD respectively.

  • Devil Wears Prada 2 (20th Centruy) - 5/1 Release - Already on Hulu
  • Whalefall (20th Century) - 10/16 Release - 12/15 Est PVOD - 1/14 Est SVOD
  • Wild Hose Nine (Searchlight) - 11/6 Release - 1/15 Est PVOD - 2/4 Est SVOD
  • Behemoth (Searchlight) - 12/4 Release - 2/2 Est PVOD - 3/4 Est SVOD

GKIDS + Toho

Last Year GKIDS was responsible for Little Amelie, which had a Oct 31 Theatrical release and a Dec 9 PVOD release - that is 39 days. Notably Little Amelie is not yet on a streaming platform.

For Shaun the Sheep, coming out 9/18, that is a comfortable 10/27 PVOD date.

This year GKIDS also has Godzilla Minus Zero releasing 11/3. While that may imply that it will be on PVOD by Dec 12, I suspect that it will play closer to the Godzilla Minus One release by Toho, where it took until June 1 2024 after its Dec 1 2023 release before it came to streaming - Exactly 6 months after its theatrical release. If you missed it outside of its 9 week theatrical window (from Dec 1 to Jan 26), you were out of luck. GKIDS similarly handled the Boy and the Heron release with a Dec 8 release > June 25 PVOD release > Sep 6 SVOD release. (At the very least it's not Kokuho which still has not come out on PVOD or Streaming as far as I'm aware)

IFC

Last year they released Memoir of a Snail on 10/25, and on PVOD 11/26, and on SVOD on AMC+ on 1/17 - that is 32 days to PVOD and 84 days to SVOD. So for Tangles (which does not yet have a release date), it would need to come out by 2/9 to be available on PVOD by the ceremony, and by 12/19 to be available by streaming.

MGM/Amazon

As an Amazon company, their films ultimately will end up on Prime. Fortunately the biggest film thus far (Project Hail Mary) is already on Prime. For future reference, it took 53 days to get to PVOD and 105 days to get to SVOD (technically it did come in 90 days but to MGM+ - the 105 day is for Amazon Prime).

  • I Play Rocky - 11/6 Release Date - Est 12/29 PVOD - Est 2/19 to SVOD

MUBI

MUBI took last year off after doing well with The Substance. The Substance released on 9/20/24 and came to both MUBI and VOD 10/31, or 41 days.

  • Fatherland - 10/23 Release - Est 12/3 to MUBI
  • Minotaur - 11/20 Release - Est 12/31 to MUBI
  • Coward - 12/25 Release - Est 2/4 to MUBI
  • Rose - TBD release (November)

Neon

Last year Neon's 5 nominated films ranged from 32 (Arco) to 69 (Secret Agent) days to PVOD with an average of 51 days / median of 46. For SVOD, the total days ranged from 59 (Sirat) to 137 (It Was Just An Accident) with an average of 109, and the median of 119. Neon films end up on Hulu for streaming.

Taking the higher between the average and median above (51 for PVOD / 119 for SVOD):

  • Hope - 9/9 Release - 10/30 Est PVOD - 1/6 Est SVOD
  • Fjord - 10/9 Release - 11/29 Est PVOD - 2/5 Est SVOD
  • Once Upon a Time in Harlem - 10/16 Release - 12/6 Est PVOD - 2/12 Est SVOD
  • Paper Tiger - 11/13 Release - 1/3 Est PVOD - 3/12 Est SVOD
  • All of a Sudden - 11/25 Release - 1/15 Est PVOD - 3/24 Est SVOD
  • Artificial - 12/25 Release - 2/14 Est PVOD - 4/23 Est SVOD
  • The Unknown - no release date yet

Netflix

As with Apple, all of Netflix's films are already dated for their streaming release.

  • Possible Love - 11/6 (10/23 theatrical)
  • Gentle Monster - 11/18 (10/30 theatrical)
  • La Bola Ngra - 12/4 (11/6 theatrical)
  • In Waves - 12/11
  • Ray Gunn - 12/18
  • Cliff Booth - 12/23 (11/25 IMAX only theatrical)
  • Ink - 1/8 (12/11 theatrical)

Paramount

Paramount did not have a nominee last year. However they do have a 45 day to PVOD as per Cinemacon 2026. It's also been 90 days to SVOD on Paramount+ for releases this year.

  • By Any Means (aka Diane Warren movie) - 9/4 Release - 10/19 PVOD - 12/3 SVOD
  • Ebenezer - 11/13 Release - 12/28 PVOD - 2/11 SVOD
  • Mr Irrelevant - 12/25 Release - 2/8 PVOD - 3/25 SVOD

Sony

The only Sony nominated film last year was Blue Moon, which came to PVOD after 39 days and then to Netflix (as per Sony and Netflix's agreement) 120 days after release. A similar timeline for their films would be

  • Social Reckoning - 10/9 Release Date - 11/17 Est PVOD - 2/6 Est SVOD
  • Klara and the Sun - 10/23 Release Date - 12/1 Est PVOD - 2/20 Est SVOD
  • I Swear - 4/24 Release Already on Streaming
  • Bedford Park - 9/22 Release Date - 10/31 Est PVOD - 1/20 Est SVOD
  • Ha Chan Shake Your Booty - 9/25 Release Date - 11/3 Est PVOD - 1/23 Est SVOD
  • Only Living Pickpocket in NY - 10/16 Release Date - 11/24 Est PVOD - 2/13 Est SVOD
  • Bitter Christmas - 11/13 Release Date - 12/22 Est PVOD - 3/13 Est SVOD
  • Prima Facie - No release date yet. Would need to release by 2/2 to come to PVOD
  • The Bunker - No release date yet. Would need to release by 2/2 to come to PVOD
  • Iron Boy - No release date yet. Would need to release by 2/2 to come to PVOD

Universal / Focus

On the Universal side, Jurassic World had 34 days between theatrical and PVOD, and 120 days to SVOD on Peacock. Of course with Odyssey, Nolan has a special deal. It released on PVOD 133 days after release and took 220 days to get to streaming.

On the Focus side, there were 3 films ranging from 19 days to PVOD (Song Sung Blue) to 69 days (nice - Hamnet). For SVOD, it ranged from 43 days (Bugonia) to 100 days (Hamnet). I'll assume a worst case scenario (ie Hamnet) below for Focus Feature films, except for Werwulf. Since we have a good comp with Nosferatu, I'll use those numbers (31 to PVOD / 58 to SVOD)

  • Odyssey - 7/17 release - 11/17 PVOD release confirmed - 2/22 Est SVOD
  • Disclosure Day - 6/12 Release - Already on PVOD - Est 10/10 SVOD
  • Obsession - 5/15 Release - Already on Peacock
  • Pressure - 5/29 Release - Already on Peacock
  • The Uprising - 9/10 Release - Est 11/18 PVOD - Est 12/19 SVOD
  • Sense and Sensibility - 10/16 Release - Est 12/24 PVOD - Est 1/24 SVOD
  • Elsinore - 11/20 Release - Est 1/28 PVOD - Est 2/28 SVOD
  • Werwulf - 12/25 Release - Est 1/25 PVOD - Est 2/21 SVOD

WBD

Last year their 3 nominees (Sinners / OBAA / Weapons) came out to PVOD an average of 42 days after, and to SVOD on HBOMax an average of 79 days after. This tracks even for Dune 2 in 2024.

  • Wuthering Heights - 2/13 Release - Already on HBO Max
  • Digger - 10/2 Release - Est 11/13 PVOD - Est 12/20 SVOD
  • Clayface - 10/23 Release - Est 12/4 PVOD - Est 1/10 SVOD
  • Dune 3 - 12/18 Release - Est 1/29 PVOD - Est 3/7 SVOD

Miscellaneous Films

  • Michael - Lionsgate hasn't really been Oscar relevant much, but on the off chance it does get a nom, it is already on SVOD
  • Wildwood - Fathom Entertainment I don't think has ever really done a big film release like this, so I have no idea what their time to PVOD will be, or even if they have any agreements in place to bring the film to SVOD and what their strategy would be.
  • Wicker - 10/23 Release Date. Blackbear Pictures also released Tuner this year on 5/22, and it came to PVOD 6/23, so I'd expect a late November PVOD release for Wicker.
  • Josephine - Sumerian is a fairly new distributor and thus we have very little idea of how it'll do. The most notable film they've done is Queen of the Ring that released 3/7/25 and later came out 5/9/25 on PVOD (not yet on any SVOD service). That is 61 days, so based on Josephine's 11/20 release date, PVOD would be 1/20/27

TLDR

Films at risk of not coming to PVOD by 3/13 - see these films in theaters to stave off the chance they don't come to PVOD in time and you miss out on them entirely

  • Godzilla Minus Zero (GKIDS/Toho)
  • Wildwood (Fathom/Laika)

Films at risk of not coming to SVOD by 3/13 - see these early if you don't want to rent them at home / budget accordingly

  • Club Kid (A24 - Est 3/6)
  • The Debut - (A24 - Est 4/10)
  • Hexed - (WDAS - Est 3/10)
  • Paper Tiger (Neon - Est 3/12)
  • All of a Sudden (Neon - Est 3/24)
  • Artificial (Neon - Est 4/23)
  • Mr Irrelevant (Paramount - Est 3/25)
  • Bitter Christmas (Sony - Est 3/13)
  • Dune 3 (WBD - Est 3/7)

Films at risk of missing PVOD by 1/21 - For the real degenerates who want to see everything before nominations

  • The Debut (A24 - 1/19 PVOD Est)
  • Hexed (WDAS - 1/24 PVOD Est)
  • Wild Horse Nine (Searchlight - 1/15 PVOD Est)
  • Behemoth (Searchlight - 2/2 PVOD Est)
  • Coward (MUBI - 2/4 PVOD Est)
  • All of a Sudden (Neon - 1/15 PVOD Est)
  • Artificial (Neon - 2/14 PVOD Est)
  • Mr Irrelevant (Paramount - 2/8 PVOD Est)
  • Elsinore (Focus - 1/28 PVOD Est)
  • Werwulf (Focus - 1/25 PVOD Est)
  • Dune 3 (WBD - 1/29 PVOD Est)
  • Josephine (Sumerian - 1/20 PVOD Est)

Undated Films - dates are latest date to be avail on PVOD by 3/13)

  • Tangles (IFC - must release by 2/9)
  • The Unknown (Neon - must release by 1/26)
  • Iron Boy (Sony - must release by 2/2)
  • Prima Facie (Sony - must release by 2/2)
  • The Bunker (Sony - must release by 2/2)
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