Trolls World Tour has biggest ever digital debut in opening weekend

The film launched on demand and in selected US drive-in cinemas on 10 April

Trolls World Tour had the biggest ever debut of a digital release in its opening weekend, according to Universal.

The animated sequel to the hugely popular children’s musical was due for theatrical release on 10 April, but due to the coronavirus outbreak and widespread cinema closures was made available for digital rental at the same time instead.

The move proved to be hugely successful, as Trolls World Tour took 10 times the digital revenue of Universal’s previous record holder, Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom, on its debut – though that had a theatrical release months before it was available for home viewing.

While Universal is yet to release any official sales statistics, Deadline estimates that the film pulled in around $40 million over the weekend.

The film was the top title on all major video on demand platforms, including Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV, YouTube and Comcast.

Trolls World Tour, which is based on the children’s range of dolls, stars Anna Kendrick and Justin Timberlake and is available to rent for £16 ($20).

The Independent’s film critic Clarisse Loughrey called the film “a cavalcade of colour, glitter and blind optimism – a combination that could only have been cooked up in the minds of Katy Perry, Lisa Frank, or the creatives at DreamWorks.”