From Zoom meetings to remote learning and the revival of binge culture, quarantine has altered our entire way of living in more ways than thought possible. One luxury the global pandemic put on indefinite hold was an experience that many consider sacred to 21st century living: seeing a movie in theaters.
Even with most theaters still shut down nationwide, select films have found a way to thrive in the industry. While most studio slates have been delayed into 2021, those movies which might’ve potentially bombed at the box office chose to go a different route — one more accessible to an audience under quarantine — and premiere via streaming and on-demand services instead.
Movies that choose to adopt an at-home delivery model tend to involve some sort of box office poison, be it an unpopular actor, an outdated genre or a combination of the two. At a time when isolated audiences are clamoring for content, the option for a remote release without competition from bigger titles has provided many of these films with a better chance for success where they would have most likely faded into obscurity otherwise. 
Take August’s “An American Pickle” for example. This Seth Rogen comedy about a man suspended for 100 years in pickle brine doesn’t exactly scream “box office hit.” In recent years, Rogen flicks like 2019’s “Long Shot,” which only made $53.9 million on a budget of $40 million, have consistently fallen flat in theaters. In a summer that would’ve seen “Wonder Woman 1984,” “Fast and Furious 9” and “Tenet,” Rogen’s pickle comedy ended up finding a home at HBO Max, saving it from irrelevance: a fate worse than death. 
Another movie that would have come up short if not for a home release is Hulu’s “Palm Springs,” a romantic comedy with a twist. Lead actor Andy Samberg’s history of flops — think “Hot Rod” and “Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping,” — combined with the rom-com genre’s recent fall from grace no doubt would have been a recipe for disaster at the box office.
Thankfully the pandemic gave viewers at home a surplus of time to experiment with genre preferences; so much so, in fact, that Hulu reported at least 8.1 percent of their viewer base watched “Palm Springs” in its opening month. Not bad for an entry in a dying genre with a main actor who isn’t exactly a shining star.
Sure, movie theaters may not return to their former glory for a while. In the meantime, while you wait for the next unnecessary live-action remake of a classic animation or the next installment of a machismo action franchise, try streaming a movie you wouldn’t necessarily go see in a theater.
Hopefully this quarantine helps studios see the value in home-releases and understand that these movies are equally as important as their bigger cinematic counterparts regardless of what the box office might say. 
Domenic Purdy is a 19-year-old journalism sophomore from Prairieville, Louisiana.