LOS ANGELES — Universal Pictures said on Monday that it would no longer give theaters an exclusive period of roughly 90 days to play new movies, a break with longstanding Hollywood practice that could have wide-ranging reverberations. The decision, prompted by the coronavirus pandemic and likely to anger theater owners, makes Universal the first old-line studio to become more like Netflix in its approach to film distribution.

“We hope and believe that people will still go to the movies in theaters where available, but we understand that for people in different areas of the world that is increasingly becoming less possible,” Jeff Shell, the chief executive of NBCUniversal, said in a statement.

At least some competing studios are likely to follow. Executives across Hollywood saw the move by Universal as an opening to experiment with a pay-per-view model that would allow consumers to gain immediate or near-immediate access to new movies in their homes for a premium price.

Starting Friday, three Universal movies that have already been released in theaters will become available in homes — for $20 for a 48-hour rental period — through online stores like iTunes and Amazon Prime Video and on cable systems like Comcast, Universal’s parent company. Those films are “The Hunt,” a horror satire that arrived in theaters last weekend; “The Invisible Man,” which has been playing in theaters since Feb. 20; and “Emma,” a new take on the classic Jane Austen novel that arrived in theaters on March 6.