Hot Off the Press Release: Onward for Sky
April 3, 2020 
8 Comments
Today Sky offers its first direct “express release”, Onward, which would have been opening in theatres if not for the COVID-19 lockdown.
Here’s the media release:
Sky announces first ever Sky Express Release, Onward.
When things are all up in the air, it’s best to look onward. Disney Pixar’s newest animated flick Onward is coming to Sky Box Office to help bring some joy to your school holidays.
Onward is Sky NZ’s first ever Sky Express Release – premium content premiering on Sky Box Office with limited or no theatrical release.
Sky is pleased to offer its Sky Box Office platform to distributors across the globe as a means of getting brand new movies to movie-loving Kiwis.
Featuring the voices of Chris Pratt and Tom Holland, Onward follows two teenage elf brothers, Ian and Barley, who embark on a quest to discover if there is still a little magic left out there.
Hoping to spend one last day with their father, their journey to find the magic required is filled with cryptic maps, impossible obstacles and unimaginable discoveries.
It’s the perfect inside adventure for young movie fanatics – and, of course, their parents too!
Onward will be available to rent on Sky Box Office from Friday 3rd of April until Thursday 16th of April.
Savvy Sky customers keen to make the most of their rental can book the film from channel 42 and record it to their MySky planner, which will remain there and be viewable for four days.
Quick facts
Movie: Onward
Synopsis: Hoping to spend one last day with their father, two brothers embark on a quest to discover if there is still a little magic left out there. Featuring the voices of: Tom Holland, Chris Pratt, Octavia Spencer, Julia Louis-Dreyfus.
Rating: G
Channel: Sky Box Office (channel 42) and On Demand
Price: $25
Availability: 3 April 2020 to 16 April 2020.
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April 3, 2020 at 5:13 pm
Glad to see that someone in this country is doing this. Universal started to do this in the US a couple of weeks ago called “theater rentals”
So that’s why we are missing out on Onward for Disney+ in New Zealand. It’s annoying Sky again 🙁
Digital platforms April, 3rd Disney+ Au and NZ April 24th, Google Play have it on sale, so not a sole Sky release
That’s right, Paul. I asked Universal NZ pre-lockdown if we’d see something similar and the answer was no because of different release strategies in NZ and Oz.
It’s not just Sky, Trevor. Google Play and iTunes also have it ahead of Disney+.
Thanks, Mark. The frustrating thing for 4K viewers in this market is Google Play offers Onward in 4K in the US but only in HD elsewhere while NZ’s best 4K streamer of movies, iTunes, has only an HD buy option.
$25 is a bit steep?
Yes, I would have thought so, thx1138 (especially if you opt to download it in low-res OnDemand “HD”). I’d have gone for $19.95. But it’s early days for this kind of streaming that bypasses cinemas. A lot of the pricing you see in NZ is toe-in-the-water experimentation. For instance, you can buy Onward in digital HD on iTunes NZ for $25 but on Google Play it will cost you $34. Disney+ subscribers, meanwhile, will be able to view it as part of their monthly or annual sub later this month — and it will be in 4K!