Addams Family 2 Scares Up Same-Day Digital Rental and Theatrical Release

They really are a stream: The Addams Family 2 will be available as a digital rental on the same day it opens in theaters. According to Bloomberg, the animated sequel from Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and Annapurna Pictures is scaring up an early digital on-demand release for the new movie scheduled to open in theaters on October 1. The reported move to early streaming comes after Sony Pictures Animation and Amazon began talks for a $100 million deal for Hotel Transylvania 4, once set for a theatrical-only release on October 1, to skip theaters entirely and stream on Amazon Prime Video over concerns of the COVID delta variant.

Pricing for the same-day digital rental is not yet known. Universal Pictures, who will distribute Addams Family 2 in international territories on Oct. 1, made the animated Trolls World Tour available as a 48-hour rental for $19.99 early last year when the burgeoning COVID pandemic shuttered most movie theaters.

Hotel Transylvania 4 and the similarly spooky-themed Addams Family 2 would have competed had both opened in theaters on October 1. Studio MGM, which has entered into a deal to be acquired by Amazon, has "big lucrative promo partnerships" for Addams Family 2, and "there was no way that newly acquired Amazon studio could re-date" the movie, according to Deadline, likely explaining the same-day rental strategy.

In The Addams Family 2, "We find Morticia (Charlize Theron) and Gomez (Oscar Isaac) distraught that their children are growing up, skipping family dinners, and totally consumed with 'scream time.' To reclaim their bond they decide to cram Wednesday (Chloë Grace Moretz), Pugsley (Javon 'Wanna' Walton), Uncle Fester (Nick Kroll), and the crew into their haunted camper and hit the road for one last miserable family vacation. Their adventure across America takes them out of their element and into hilarious run-ins with their iconic cousin, IT (Snoop Dogg), as well as many new kooky characters. What could possibly go wrong?"

The Addams Family 2 is scheduled for release on October 1.