'Trolls 3' Topped $200M In Theaters Despite 'Trolls 2' Going (Essentially) Straight-To-Video

The solid theatrical performance of DreamWorks' third 'Trolls' movie shows franchises and brands that went to VOD or streaming amid Covid can still thrive in multiplexes

Universal and DreamWorks’ Trolls Band Together was the top movie on Vudu (which ranks by revenue) for the second week in a row, with Hunger Games: Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes and Oppenheimer again holding the fort in second and third place. The robust performance of the third Anna Kendrick/Justin Timerblake-led Trolls feature, currently tops on YouTube and near the top over at Amazon and iTunes, follows the film’s $100 million domestic and $202 million global theatrical run.

The musical toon will be long-term profitable for a $92 million budget, specifically thanks to post-theatrical revenue such as VOD, DVD and its value as a third-party licensing title (The Croods is currently among the most-watched movies on Netflix in America). Moreover, the film’s theatrical performance, -35% from the first Trolls in North America and -46% from the 2016 original (back when Fox released DWA features), is decent considering that Trolls World Tour was mostly confined to non-theatrical distribution.