The Gerad Butler-fronted disaster movie Greenland will now be released via premium video-on-demand in the U.S. this December, skipping theaters entirely. Originally scheduled to be theatrically released on June 12, 2020, Greenland faced several delays and release date push backs and is now scheduled to hit PVOD on December 18, priced at $19.99 for a 48-hour rental.
“Greenland has been a hit everywhere in the world, so it’s exciting to bring it to American audiences on PVOD,” Adam Fogelson, chairman of the STXfilms Motion Picture Group, said in a statement.
Greenland was recently pulled from release indefinitely, before being moved to August and then again to September, before now going straight to streaming later this year. Alongside the domestic PVOD release in December, the streaming rights to Greenland reportedly sold to HBO for $20-30 million, who will release it in early 2021 and have it stream on their exclusive service HBO Max. Greenland will also be made available in the United Kingdom, Canada, and Australia on Amazon Prime from October 13, 2020.
Greenland begins when scientists discover that fragments of a comet will hit Earth in a few days and will likely cause the extinction of humanity. The only hope of survival is to take shelter in a group of bunkers in Greenland. Greenland follows a family who must fight for survival as they make their way to salvation before the comet collides with the planet. John Garrity (Gerard Butler), his estranged wife Allison (Morena Baccarin), and young son Nathan make a perilous journey to their only hope for sanctuary.
Amid terrifying news accounts of cities around the world being leveled by the comet’s fragments, the Garrity’s experience the best and worst in humanity while they battle the increasing panic and lawlessness surrounding them. As the countdown to global apocalypse approaches zero, their incredible trek culminates in a desperate and last-minute flight to a possible safe haven. Greenland promises the kind of apocalyptic action seen in the likes of other comet-colliding disaster movies Deep Impact and Armageddon, and it is a shame that audiences will not get to see this unfold on the big screen.
Greenland finds director Ric Roman Waugh at the helm and re-teaming with Gerard Butler, with the two having worked on last year’s finale to the Fallen action series, Angel Has Fallen, which found Butler’s hero Mike Banning framed for the attempted assassination of the President and forced to evade his own agency and the FBI as he tries to uncover the real threat.
Greenland joins an ever-growing list of high-profile movies that are skipping theaters amid the current global circumstances. So far these include the horror flick Antebellum, Sarah Paulson’s Run, and You Should Have Left starring Kevin Bacon and Amanda Seyfried. Disney has also been experimenting with streaming, releasing the live-action Mulan remake straight to Disney+, as well as recently announcing that the Pixar movie Soul will follow the same path, becoming available on Christmas day with no additional charge to subscribers. Greenland is being distributed by STX Entertainment.
