Judd Apatow's 'King of Staten Island' going straight to on-demand

Judd Apatow's upcoming comedy film "King of Staten Island" is skipping a theatrical release and arriving directly on-demand amid the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.

The film, set in New York's Staten Island, stars "Saturday Night Live" breakout Pete Davidson in his first lead feature role. The movie is a semi-autobiographical coming-of-age comedy which incorporates elements from Davidson's life.

Apatow and Davidson shared the news about going digital in a video chat on Twitter on Monday.

The Universal picture was slated to open in cinemas June 19, but will now be made available to rent beginning June 12 on a host of digital platforms. The price for a 48-hour rental will be USD 19.99.

The film also stars Marisa Tomei and Steve Buscemi.

Ever since the majority of cinema halls in the US have shut owing to the COVID-19 outbreak in March, makers have postponed the release dates. Some, like in the case of "King of Staten Island", went straight on-demand.

The news came hours after upcoming streaming service HBO Max picked up worldwide rights to release Sony's offbeat comedy "An American Pickle", featuring Seth Rogen.

Other films that went the digital route recently were family animated films "Trolls World Tour", from Universal and DreamWorks Animation, and Warner Bros' "Scoob!".