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One of the biggest differences between talking about box office earnings at theaters and VOD earnings is the way that numbers are reported. With box office, there are third party ways to figure out how much a film has earned, keeping studios honest. Whereas on VOD earnings, we rely solely on the studio’s information. So, with that caveat in mind, it’s being reported that the straight-to-VOD release of “Trolls World Tour,” the controversial move made by Universal in light of the COVID-19 pandemic, has already been hugely successful, beyond what the studio hoped for.

READ MORE: Universal Touts Record-Breaking ‘Trolls World Tour’ VOD Opening As Studio Experiments With A Digital-First Release

According to a new report from the Wall Street Journal, the new ‘Trolls’ film has earned almost $100 million in rental fees since its release three weeks ago. And while that number does sound impressive, what is even more noteworthy is how much of that money gets returned to the studio. Unlike box office earnings (where the studios only earn roughly 50% of the ticket sales), Universal is seeing approximately 80% of the rental fees for “Trolls World Tour.” This means that the sequel has already earned more revenue for the studio after only three weeks of release than the first film earned domestically during its entire 5+ month run in theaters.

“The results for ‘Trolls World Tour’ have exceeded our expectations and demonstrated the viability of PVOD,” Jeff Shell, head of NBCUniversal, said. “As soon as theaters reopen, we expect to release movies on both formats.”

READ MORE: ‘Trolls World Tour’ Is Like A Candy, All Color But No Substance [Review]

When you look at the math, it works out to be true. Universal is saying the sequel has earned $77 million in revenue already. That equates to about $95 million in rental fees. The first “Trolls” film earned $153.7 million domestically in 2016 for Universal, which means roughly $76 million in revenue for the studio. But even though that’s a number that is shocking, for sure, it doesn’t tell the whole story.

What “Trolls” had that “Trolls World Tour” doesn’t have is the secondary market. After earning $153 million domestically (as well as another $190 million internationally), “Trolls” went on to have a VOD release (reportedly earning roughly $70 million just with home video). ‘World Tour’ likely will see quite a big drop in VOD and eventual Blu-ray sales because folks have already seen the film in their homes. So, the secondary VOD market will suffer. So, yes, it’s impressive that ‘World Tour’ has done this well, but it’s not a true apples-to-apples comparison.

READ MORE: Theater Group Accuses Universal Of “Lying To Customers” About ‘Trolls’ VOD Release: “Exhibitors Will Not Forget This”

That being said, it’s clear that Universal is seeing that there is serious money to be made with films going straight to VOD. The studio also recently announced that Judd Apatow’s “The King of Staten Island” will forgo theatrical release and hit VOD in June. It’ll be interesting to see if an R-rated comedy film can find similar success as a children’s film, especially if people aren’t stuck at home.