Theaters Vs. Streaming: Breaking Down How Major Studios Handled Theatrical Windows & Release Gaps In 2025

Gone are the days of movies playing exclusively in theaters for months on end being the standard. The rise in popularity of streaming and digital releases was already happening pre-pandemic, but the need to meet consumers at home sped up that process for studios. Coupled with the increased prices to see a movie on the big screen, the length of time films can only be seen in theaters keeps shrinking.

Yet, every studio approaches the schedule differently. Some continue to favor the theatrical business model, while others routinely move titles to digital in a month or less. 2026 is sure to see theatrical windows continue to evolve — especially if Netflix's acquisition of Warner Bros. closes. With that in mind, how the biggest Hollywood studios operated in 2025 is worth exploring.

I've compiled the data for Hollywood's "Big Five" studios — Walt Disney Studios, Warner Bros., Sony Pictures, Universal Studios, and Paramount Pictures — as well as A24, Neon, Lionsgate, and Amazon MGM, to see how they each handled their theatrical releases. Here are the findings, including which studios had the longest and shortest exclusive theatrical windows.

Comparing Each Studio's Theatrical Windows In 2025

When talking about theatrical windows, there are two different gaps worth discussing the most. The first is a film's true exclusive window to play on the big screen, which ends the moment a title gets its digital release. The second is when a movie releases on a streaming service, which occurs after the digital launch and once a film has completely left theaters traditionally.

In terms of the gap between theatrical and digital releases, Disney had the longest window. Titles from the Disney umbrella (including Marvel Studios, Pixar, 20th Century, etc.) were exclusively available in theaters for 58.3 days on average. Perhaps it should not come as a surprise, then, that Disney was the highest-grossing studio in 2025.

Disney coming out on top might not surprise some, but Paramount's second-place finish might. It's worth noting that this average is altered significantly by the handling of Mission: Impossible — The Final Reckoning. Tom Cruise's action sequel had a much longer gap than Paramount typically gives out. If it were treated like any other release, Paramount's average would drop to 30.3 days, knocking it down to seventh place.

These standings change dramatically when we look at streaming gaps. Many of these studios have their own specific streaming service to funnel movies to, while the likes of Neon, Sony, A24, and Lionsgate have deals in place with Hulu, Netflix, HBO Max, and Starz, respectively. For that reason, those four studios are all in the top five and have much longer gaps than just about every other studio, except Disney.

Neon is far and away the studio that makes viewers wait the longest for a movie to go to streaming, with an average gap of over five months, a full month longer than Lionsgate's second-longest gap. Disney gets credit for often waiting at least three full months before putting a film on Disney+.

Warner Bros. consistently pushes its titles to HBO Max quickly, giving it a last-place finish. However, Paramount was really the studio that favored streaming the most. Taking The Final Reckoning out of the equation, given its massive 195-day gap, Paramount otherwise moved its films to Paramount+ after just 60.1 days on average.

Looking at this data, Disney comes out as the most pro-theater studio. Its first and fourth place finishes are notable, with only Neon and Sony able to say they finished with top five longest gaps in both areas. Meanwhile, Warner Bros. and Universal are the only studios not to finish in the top five of either category.

After looking at the overall averages, here are individual note sections for each studio regarding the shortest and longest gaps, common tendencies, and more.

A24's 2025 Theatrical Window Notes

A24 most commonly waited over a month to put its films on digital, with 32 days and 39 days being the most frequent release schedule. The shortest gap goes to Opus, which went to digital after only 18 days following its record-low box office performance.

In terms of streaming, A24 made HBO Max subscribers wait the longest for Warfare, as the war movie's 154-day gap edges out Materialists' 147-day gap.

It's worth noting that the shortest gap was 112 days, which is how long The Legend of Ochi and The Smashing Machine took to arrive on streaming. A24 has also given If I Had Legs, I'd Kick You the 112-day gap with its January 30, 2026 confirmed HBO Max release.

This data does not include Marty Supreme, while Eternity does not have a confirmed streaming debut either.

Amazon MGM's 2025 Theatrical Window Notes

Amazon MGM only released four movies in theaters in 2025, and it handled them with very different approaches.

Jason Statham's A Working Man received a short 18-day theatrical window before going to digital, but Amazon waited 159 days before putting it on Prime Video. Both of those figures are records for the year, with the first being the studio's shortest digital gap and the second being the longest streaming gap.

For The Accountant 2 and After the Hunt, Amazon made them both available on Prime Video within 41 days of debuting in theaters. The latter didn't even get a digital release. Meanwhile, Sarah's Oil was in theaters exclusively for 25 days and has yet to have a streaming debut confirmed.

Disney's 2025 Theatrical Window Notes

Disney only used two different windows in 2025, with all but three films going to PVOD after 60 days. Those other three titles (Snow White, The Roses, and Tron: Ares) went to digital after 53 days.

Thunderbolts* had Disney's longest streaming gap at 117 days. That was two weeks longer than the next closest titles: Captain America: Brave New World, Elio, and The Fantastic Four: First Steps, which had 103-day gaps. The shortest gap goes to Snow White, for which the studio waited only 82 days to put on Disney+.

Disney titles that did not factor into the data include: Rental Family, Zootopia 2, Avatar: Fire and Ash, Is This Thing On?, and The Testament of Ann Lee.

Lionsgate's 2025 Theatrical Window Notes

Lionsgate took many different approaches to handling theatrical windows in 2025. Its movies had windows as short as 18 days (as was the case for Den of Thieves 2: Pantera and The Strangers: Chapter 2). Lionsgate also waited the longest to make Zachery Levi's faith-based drama The Unbreakable Boy available at home, giving it a 42-day window.

The Unbreakable Boy also claims the record for Lionsgate's longest gap to streaming, as it took 253 days to come to Starz. That's the biggest gap I've found among 2025 releases by a long shot. In terms of the shortest gap, the John Wick spinoff Ballerina went there quickly after only 111 days. Lionsgate also let Den of Thieves 2 release on Netflix, not Starz, after just 69 days.

The Housemaid did not contribute to this data, given its December release in theaters. Hurry Up Tomorrow, The Strangers: Chapter 2, Good Fortune, and Now You See Me: Now You Don't have not received official streaming debuts, keeping them out of that data as well.

Neon's 2025 Theatrical Window Notes

Neon has a smaller pool of movies available for this data, as Splitsville, Shelby Oaks, and Keeper have not gone to streaming yet. Still, the latter two and Together tied for the shortest digital release gap for the studio at 25 days. The Life of Chuck had the longest wait at 53 days.

The Life of Chuck also holds Neon's record for longest streaming gap at 203 days. The studio's shortest gap was the 130 days given to Steven Soderbergh's Presence.

Paramount's 2025 Theatrical Window Notes

As mentioned in the main section, The Final Reckoning royally changes Paramount's performance in 2025. Cruise's movie holds the record for the longest gaps to digital (88 days) and to streaming (195 days). The Final Reckoning's digital release is the longest gap for any 2025 film that I've seen.

Excluding the final Mission: Impossible, Paramount has one of the most consistent strategies around. All its 2025 movies came to streaming after 60 days, with Regretting You being the slight exception at 61 days.

For digital, 32 days is Paramount's most common approach. Only Novocaine and Smurfs had a shorter gap of 25 days. I wouldn't expect The SpongeBob Movie: Search For SquarePants to have a radically different rollout as a result, even if it doesn't contribute to the data at this point.

Sony's 2025 Theatrical Window Notes

Sony is middle of the pack in both windows. Its 2025 theatrical exclusive schedule commonly uses either a 25 or 39 day gap, which were each used four times. The former is the shortest gap Sony did, with One of Them Days, Heart Eyes, A Big Bold Beautiful Journey, and Sisu: Road to Revenge each getting that treatment. East of Wall had the longest gap at 53 days.

When Sony's movies went to Netflix, One of Them Days' 73 days was the shortest gap given. Karate Kid: Legends and Oh, Hi! tied for the longest gap at 120 days. Every other Sony movie debuted on Netflix after 90 or 92 days.

Notably, Anaconda and A Private Life do not have data available for either window yet. East of Wall, A Big Bold Beautiful Journey, Eleanor the Great, Blue Moon, and Nuremberg could not contribute to streaming data either.

Universal's 2025 Theatrical Window Notes

Universal finishes as one of the least theatrical focused studios of 2025, as it was the only one to finish bottom three in both categories. The studio consistently favored an 18 day theatrical window, with 13 movies utilizing the lowest gap possible. The longest Universal kept a movie exclusively in theaters was 39 days, which was the case for Wicked: For Good and The Ballad of Wallis Island.

The studio waited 120 days to release Dog Man and Jurassic World Rebirth on Peacock, giving them a tie for the longest gap. The shortest? That belongs to Honey Don't, which went to streaming after only 42 days.

Titles that do not contribute to this data include Hamnet, Five Nights at Freddy's 2, and Song Sung Blue in both categories. The Gabby's Dollhouse Movie, Black Phone 2, and Wicked: For Good also do not have streaming debut dates confirmed.

Warner Bros.'s 2025 Theatrical Window Notes

Warner Bros. had a great 2025 in theaters with its record seven consecutive $40+ million opening weekends. Those strong openings are more important considering the studio consistently makes its movies available at home more quickly than the rest of Hollywood.

WB often makes its films available on digital after 32 days, with Companion holding the studio's record low for the year after only being in theaters exclusively for 19 days. One Battle After Another (49 days) narrowly beat Sinners (46 days) for WB's longest gap.

Paul Thomas Anderson and Leonardo DiCaprio's movie also bucked a trend for WB movies going to streaming, with the 84 day gap the longest for the studio. Superman went to HBO Max the quickest of any WB movie in 2025, moving there after only 70 days. Otherwise, the rest of the studio's slate went to the streamer after 77 or 78 days.