Jeff Shell, whose 'Trolls World Tour' comments upset theater owners, reaffirms that digital releases will be part of Universal Pictures' new reality.
Theaters push back on Universal Pictures’ contention that the successful online release of “Trolls World Tour” means anything for Hollywood’s business model.“We are in a current and unprecedented environment,” Shell said. “We had a number of films, including ‘Trolls,’ that were ready to go that we had worked really hard on, and invested a lot of money in.
Among major studios, Universal is unique because home entertainment is the heart of its parent company, Comcast. In the first quarter it had 477,000 new broadband internet subscribers, up 27% from a year ago. In addition, Comcast has surpassed AT&T as the nation’s largest pay-TV operator with more than 20 million customers for its Xfinity pay-TV service.
The controversy comes four months after Shell replaced Steve Burke as chief executive of the venerable media company.
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