Entertainment

How Long Do Films Stay in Cinemas Before Streaming? The 45-Day Window Explained

The gap between a film's cinema release and its arrival at home has been rewritten since the pandemic. Here is how the window works and what studios have promised in 2026.

By The BB Report October 27, 2026

How Long Do Films Stay in Cinemas Before Streaming? The 45-Day Window Explained — The main auditorium of the Lichtburg cinema in Essen, Germany. Photo: Tuxyso / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)

Key takeaways

Before the pandemic a cinema window could run as long as 90 days, and the average is now about 30 days.
At CinemaCon in April 2026, every major studio reaffirmed windows of at least 45 days, and Universal’s 45-day policy starts in 2027.
Those commitments are company policies, and the settlement terms reported with Paramount’s acquisition of Warner Bros. cover production and investment rather than window length.

The amount of time a film is available exclusively in cinemas is known in the industry as windowing. Once that period ends, the film can reach home viewing.

The length of that window has become a contentious topic in Hollywood. Cinemas say that shorter windows cut into box office profits and train audiences to wait. Distributors say a one-size-fits-all approach does not necessarily work for smaller or midbudget films. After a series of announcements in 2026, the emerging standard is a 45-day minimum. This explainer sets out how the system works, what changed after the pandemic and what the main studios have said they will do.

What the Window Is and How It Shrank

Before the pandemic, windows could run as long as 90 days, the Spokesman-Review reported in March 2026. During the pandemic, some studios shortened them so that films could move to home viewing sooner. Universal’s minimum, for example, was 17 days, a rule set during the pandemic. The average window is now about 30 days, according to the same report.

Theater owners argue that shorter windows cut into box office profits and train audiences to wait to watch a movie at home. Distributors counter that a one-size-fits-all approach does not necessarily work for smaller or midbudget films, which may find a bigger audience via at-home viewing.

Cinema trade body Cinema United has pushed for a standard. Its chief executive, Michael O’Leary, called at CinemaCon in 2025 for a minimum window of 45 days, as the Spokesman-Review recounted. TheWrap reported that studios had been reluctant to commit to that figure the year before.

The Window at a Glance

Pre-pandemic: windows of up to 90 days. Average as reported in March 2026: about 30 days. Universal: at least five weekends from March 2026, 45 days from 2027. Paramount, once combined with Warner Bros.: minimum 45 days in theatres, subscription streaming after 90 days. Disney averaged 57 days before premium on-demand in 2025. US and Canadian cinema revenue in 2025: about $8.87 billion.

Where Studios Stand in 2026

The shift came in the spring. On 12 March 2026, Universal said its films would play in cinemas for at least five weekends, replacing the 17-day minimum, starting with the Colleen Hoover romance Reminders of Him. Donna Langley, chair of NBCUniversal Entertainment, said the studio believes in "the primacy of theatrical exclusivity." TheWrap later reported that Universal’s policy becomes 45 days from 2027.

At CinemaCon in April, every major studio reaffirmed windows of at least 45 days, according to TheWrap. Steven Spielberg applauded Universal’s move and asked for longer windows, saying, "Do I hear 60 days?" Amazon MGM’s films Mercy and Crime 101 honoured a 45-day window before reaching Prime Video, TheWrap reported.

Disney has run longer windows than most. It averaged 57 days before premium on-demand in 2025, and in 2025 no film was streaming on Disney+ or Hulu until at least three months after it first hit theaters, TheWrap reported. Avatar: Fire and Ash had a window of more than 90 days before it could be rented digitally.

Universal’s specialty arm, Focus Features, keeps its own approach. Its minimum is 17 days, but Hamnet played for 99 days and Nosferatu for 58, the Spokesman-Review reported, which shows how far a window can vary from film to film.

The Paramount and Warner Bros. Pledge

The largest recent commitment came from David Ellison, chairman and chief executive of Paramount. At CinemaCon in April he said that once Paramount combined with Warner Bros., the two studios would make a minimum of 30 films a year, with a full theatrical release and a minimum 45-day window for each, according to Screen Daily. He said films would move to subscription streaming after 90 days. Variety reported in March that he also said Paramount would not make films directly for streaming.

Paramount announced on 6 October 2026 that it had completed its acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery. FOX 7 Austin reported that the deal was valued at about $81 billion in equity, or nearly $111 billion including debt. FOX 7 Austin also reported that a settlement with 12 states reached on the way to closing included a five-year movie production plan, an investment of $1.5 billion in domestic movies and a five-year, $25 million fund for buying independent films. The terms FOX 7 reported do not mention window length.

The numbers behind the promise are demanding. Paramount planned at least 15 films in 2026, up from eight in 2025, while Warner Bros. released 11 in 2025, short of the 15 a year Ellison wants from each studio, Variety reported. David A. Gross of Franchise Entertainment Research called 30 wide releases "extremely unrealistic." Variety also noted that the combined companies will carry more than $78 billion in debt.

Cinemas’ response was one of concern. Cinema United’s chief executive, Michael O’Leary, warned that concentrating power among fewer distributors could let them "dictate the terms" of windows and scheduling, Screen Daily reported. Exhibitors had also opposed the earlier Netflix agreement to acquire Warner Bros. Discovery, which Paramount’s $110 billion offer displaced, and doubted the pledges that Netflix’s Ted Sarandos made on theatrical releases, Variety said.

The 45-day figure is a baseline rather than a typical run, and individual films still vary widely.

What a Longer Window Changes

Theater owners told TheWrap that longer windows will make for a healthier box office. TheWrap pointed to Project Hail Mary, which is at $285 million domestic and counting and was being kept in theaters for several more weeks. One cinema owner, Greg Marcus, CEO of Marcus Theaters, wants more than 45 days: he hopes for two months to premium on-demand and five months to streaming.

Studios have their own worries. Amazon MGM’s Kevin Wilson raised the concern that a film could leave cinemas after three weekends and then sit idle until its window closed. Smaller theatres with eight or fewer screens face hard choices about what to programme, TheWrap reported, and independent distributors such as Angel and Viva Pictures have adapted by sharing screens and accepting flexible showtimes.

The commercial stakes are visible in the market. US and Canadian theatrical revenue was about $8.87 billion in 2025, 1.5% above 2024’s $8.74 billion, the Spokesman-Review reported.

What to Remember

Windows are set by each studio’s policy, and they can change quickly, as Universal’s changes this year show. The 45-day figure is a baseline rather than a typical run, and individual films still vary widely.

When a film is announced, the questions that matter are how long it will be exclusive to cinemas, when it will first be available to rent at home and when it will reach a subscription service.