harley quinn birds of prey
[Photo via Warner Bros.]

‘Birds Of Prey’ to hit streaming early as theaters close nationwide

With the world finding itself with an abundance of downtime as we practice social distancing amid the coronavirus pandemic, studios have begun sending their titles to streaming early. Harley Quinn will be arriving to digitally entertain you as Birds Of Prey joins the ranks of those hitting video on-demand this month.

The DC Comics adaptation joins NBCUniversal titles Trolls World Tour, Focus Features’ Emma and Blumhouse titles The Hunt and The Invisible Man in an early digital release. Disney+ also got in on the action by adding Frozen 2 and Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker months early this past weekend.

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Having just hit theaters in early February, Harley will round up her girl gang for a March 24 VOD release, which the film announced on Twitter earlier today. Variety also confirmed it will head to iTunes and Amazon in early April for a $19.99 purchase price.

Warner Bros. will also be sending biopic crime drama Just Mercy to VOD early, which stars Michael B. Jordan and Jamie Foxx. STX’s Guy Ritchie-directed The Gentlemen will also drop early, which brings together a heavyweight cast in Matthew McConaughey, Charlie Hunnam, Colin Farrell, Hugh Grant and more. Both titles will join Birds Of Prey in a March 24 VOD release date.

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The news follows an increased event capacity ban and recommendations. On Sunday, the CDC recommended events with more than 50 people scheduled over the next 8 weeks be postponed, which would fall at about May 10. Trump also made public a set of guidelines to hopefully stop the spread of the virus urging people to stay home and restrict gatherings to no more than 10.

At first, AMC Theatres, Cineplex and Cinemark made announcements they would be limiting seating capacity. Since then and with the CDC’s recommendation in mind, several theaters have begun to close to avoid large gatherings.

New York City shut down restaurants, bars, music venues and movie theaters Sunday. New Jersey and Connecticut followed suit and also closed their movie theaters. Colorado and California also ceased theater operation beginning Monday.

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Earlier Tuesday, the largest theater chain in the U.S., AMC closed all of their locations. With approximately 1,000 locations, the chain stated they would be closed over the next six to twelve weeks. Regal, who is the second-largest U.S. chain, also closed their locations but didn’t reveal a planned re-opening date.

You can keep up with various events canceling or postponing here. If you’re looking for other things to watch while practicing self-isolation, take a look here for new things to watch on Netflix and Hulu.

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