One of Quibi's Only Good Projects Is Releasing in Select Movie Theaters

A movie originally designed to be watched in quick bursts on a mobile device, will now be getting a full-on theatrical release. Quibi's Die Hart is getting a limited theatrical release through Prime Video, making the latest twist in the Quibi saga -- one far too long or complicated to fit into a video on Quibi. The "movie" -- really a feature-length reworking of the series' original 10 episodes -- is directed by Weird: The Al Yankovic Story helmer Eric Appel, who since Brooklyn Nine-Nine has apparently fashioned himself a successful career in a weirdly (no pun intended) specific niche. John Wick franchise scribe Derek Kolstad created the series with Stuber writer Tripper Clancy. 

The total runtime of Die Hart is one hour, 18 minutes (unless there is something new added to the original series for the theatrical release). It will be dropping in theaters worldwide on February 24th in "select cinemas," which could be either a limited release in New York and Los Angeles, or a Fathom Events-style screening where theaters around the country can opt-in for a limited release.

In Die Hart, a fictionalized version of actor and comedian Kevin Hart is tired of being cast as a sidekick. He sets out to reinvent himself as an action star with the role of a lifetime, but things get real-life dangerous pretty quickly. The film also stars John Travolta, Nathalie Emmanuel, Jean Reno, and Josh Hartnett.

Originally launched on Quibi in 2020, Die Hart was one of the projects picked up by Roku when it acquired Quibi's assets. Presently, Roku is in production on Die Hart 2: Die Harter, which will star John Cena, Ben Schwartz, and Paula Pell alongside a returning Hart.

Quibi was the brainchild of former Disney and Dreamworks executive Jeffrey Katzenberg. The concept was fairly simple: it would try to capture the energy around TikTok or early YouTube, where all the content was short-form and taylored for personal devices...but it would do so using huge stars with bankable names. The company said their hope was to be the go-to entertainment platform for people riding on mass transit, waiting in lines, and other chores that create downtime in the middle of the day.

Unfortunately for them, their launch happened just as the Covid-19 pandemic shut down most of the world, and millions of people who might otherwise be bored on the subway, suddenly found themselves sitting around at home. Those circumstances, combined with the fact that a lot of observers and potential users never thought it was that good an idea to begin with, brought on a quick death for Quibi, which folded in December 2020 -- just 8 months after its programming had debuted in April.