Nickel Boys is playing in theaters, but its streaming debut remains mysterious.
Produced by Amazon MGM Studio and directed by renowned filmmaker RaMell Ross, Nickel Boys has quickly picked up steam in the awards conversation, appearing on several esteemed best-of-the-year lists.
The film follows two teenage students as they are sent to a reform school in 1960s Florida, weaving a tale of abuse, systematic oppression, and rising above one's circumstances.
When Will Nickel Boys Be Released Online?
Before Nickel Boys can come to streaming, it must arrive on online premium video-on-demand (PVOD) storefronts like Amazon Prime Video, Google Play, and Apple TV.
Nickel Boys arrived in theaters on December 13, 2024 after making its big-screen debut at the Telluride Film Festival in August. The movie is expected to run for several weeks in theaters before coming online.
Other recent Amazon MGM Studios hits like Challengers (read more about Challengers) and Blink Twice took about a month to arrive on PVOD (21 and 25 days, respectively); however, either of those may not be the best title to look at where how the studio will treat RaMell Ross' historical drama.
Nickel Boys is seemingly primed for a long and potentially fruitful run in this year's awards season, meaning the studio may hold it to release it at the perfect time to best maintain momentum through the long few months of handing out trophies.
If that is the case, the best film to compare the movie may be Amazon MGM Studios' 2023 awards heavy-weight American Fiction. That movie held off an online release for a few extra weeks, coming to PVOD 53 days after its theatrical release.
Should Nickel Boys follow in American Fiction's footsteps, which it seems likely to do, then an online release sometime around the start of February (right in the prime of the awards race) feels like a good bet.
Below are a few recent Amazon MGM Studios films and their online release dates for comparison:
- American Fiction (53 days)
- Theatrical: December 15, 2023
- Online: February 6, 2024
- Challengers (21 days)
- Theatrical: April 26, 2024
- Online: May 17, 2024
- Blink Twice (25 days)
- Theatrical: August 23, 2024
- Online: September 17, 2024
When Will Nickel Boys Start Streaming?
The streaming release conversation for Nickel Boys is not nearly as complicated as its online debut.
Typically, Amazon MGM Studios films have come to streaming roughly 90 days after their theatrical debut.
This year's Challengers was an exception to that rule, coming to streaming 146 days after it first came to theaters. However, that was likely due to the viral traction Challengers picked up upon release and the studio attempting to juice every dollar of ticket window revenue out of the film before putting it on streaming.
Unless Nickel Boys takes off and captures an audience in theaters, fans can likely expect the film to hit streaming between 80 and 90 days after its December 13 theatrical debut. This would put a streaming release for the movie somewhere in early March.
Where the movie will stream is also a question. Some Amazon MGM Studios movies have come to Amazon Prime Video, while others (like this year's Blink Twice) hit MGM+ instead. As of writing, it is unclear exactly where Nickel Boys will stream, but fans can expect it to be on one of the two.
Below is a list of recent Amazon MGM Studios movies and their theatrical-to-streaming windows:
- American Fiction (84 days)
- Theatrical: December 15, 2023
- Streaming: March 8, 2024
- Challengers (146 days)
- Theatrical: April 26, 2024
- Streaming: September 19, 2024
- Blink Twice (90 days)
- Theatrical: August 23, 2024
- Streaming: March 8, 2024
Nickel Boys is playing in theaters.
