‘The Lovebirds’ Will Go Straight To Streaming At Netflix

Paramount Also Moves Up 'Sonic The Hedgehog' Digital Release

The Kumail Nanjiani/Issa Rae action-comedy The Lovebirds has found a new nest at Netflix. After having its world premiere at SXSW canceled, and its theatrical release pulled by Paramount, the film has been acquired by Netflix, who plan on bringing it straight to streaming.

Directed by Michael Showalter, The Lovebirds stars Nanjiani and Rae as a couple who find themselves embroiled in a murder plot.  It had been scheduled to hit theaters on April 3rd, but due to theater closures nationwide its release was yanked by Paramount. Now under the Netflix banner, the film will skip theatrical entirely and go direct to streaming at a future date.

This continues the Paramount/Netflix relationship which began a couple of years ago when the streamer paid $50M for The Cloverfield Paradox. It continued when Netflix gained international distribution of Annihilation, as well as the Eddie Murphy sequel Beverly Hills Cop 4.

Meanwhile, Paramount has also announced that Sonic the Hedgehog will be available for digital platforms beginning March 31st, months ahead of its intended home release. The video game movie was a big win at the box office with $306M worldwide.

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Travis Hopson
Travis Hopson has been reviewing movies before he even knew there was such a thing. Having grown up on a combination of bad '80s movies, pro wrestling, comic books, and hip-hop, Travis is uniquely positioned to geek out on just about everything under the sun. A vampire who walks during the day and refuses to sleep, Travis is the co-creator and lead writer for Punch Drunk Critics. He is also a contributor to Good Morning Washington, WBAL Morning News, and WETA Around Town. In the five minutes a day he's not working, Travis is also a voice actor, podcaster, and Twitch gamer. Travis is a voting member of the Critics Choice Association (CCA), Washington DC Area Film Critics Association (WAFCA), and Late Night programmer for the Lakefront Film Festival.