Scene from “The Toxic Avenger.”
Legendary Entertainment
The Toxic Avenger — a remake of the 1984 horror comedy cult classic starring Peter Dinklage, Kevin Bacon, Elijah Wood and Jacob Tremblay — is new in theaters. How soon will it come to streaming?
An unrated film, The Toxic Avenger opened in 1,995 North American theaters on Friday. The official summary for the film reads, “When a downtrodden janitor, Winston Gooze (Dinklage), is exposed to a catastrophic toxic accident, he’s transformed into a new kind of hero: The Toxic Avenger.
“Now, Toxie must rise from outcast to savior, taking on ruthless corporate overlords and corrupt forces who threaten his son, his friends, and his community. In a world where greed runs rampant … justice is best served radioactive.”
Bacon stars as Bob Garbinger, one of the corrupt business megalomaniac who betrays Winston, and Wood plays Fritz Garbinger, Bob’s brother and henchman.
Directed by Macon Blair, the remake of The Toxic Avenger also stars Jacob Tremblay as Winston’s stepson, Wade, and Taylour Paige as J.J. Doherty, a reporter looking to expose Bob Garbinger’s evil ways. The film is produced by the directors of Troma Entertainment’s 1984 original, Lloyd Kaufman and Michael Herz.
Right now, the only way you can see The Toxic Avenger is in theaters, so check your local listings for showtimes.
The first place The Toxic Avenger will arrive in the home entertainment marketplace is on digital streaming via premium video on demand. Since Cineverse — the independent studio behind the Terrifier movie series — is distributing The Toxic Avenger in theaters, in all likelihood, it is behind the digital streaming distribution as well.
The Toxic Avenger marks Cineverse’s first high-profile theatrical release since Terrifier 3 in theaters. The film debuted on PVOD on Nov. 26, 2024, about 6 weeks after the film was released in theaters on Oct. 11.
If The Toxic Avenger follows the same release pattern as Terrifier 3, then viewers can expect the film to arrive for purchase or rent on PVOD sometime around Oct. 14, since new releases on PVOD tend to arrive on Tuesdays.
When The Toxic Avenger arrives on PVOD, it will be available on such digital platforms as Apple TV, Fandango at Home, Prime Video and YouTube. Prime Video already has The Toxic Avenger available for pre-order for $24.99, which is also the film’s purchase price. Since digital rentals are typically $5 less than purchase prices, The Toxic Avenger should be available for a 48-hour rental on PVOD for $19.99.
How Did ‘The Toxic Avenger’ Perform In Theaters In Its Opening Weekend?
There is a possibility that The Toxic Avenger will arrive on PVOD earlier since the film isn’t performing as well in theaters as Terrifier 3 did in theaters.
Also unrated, Terrifier 3 opened at No. 1 domestically with $18.9 million in ticket sales in its first weekend from 2,514 theaters. Terrifier 3 went on to earn nearly $54 million domestically and $22.3 million internationally for a worldwide tally of $76.3 million.
The Toxic Avenger, meanwhile, earned an estimated $2.2 million from 1,995 North American theaters in its first four days of release over the Labor Day holiday weekend for a No. 11 finish at the domestic box office. Given the much weaker opening for The Toxic Avenger, it won’t have nearly as long a theatrical run, so Cineverse could release it on PVOD earlier.
One question that seems to be up in the air at this point is where The Toxic Avenger will land once it comes to streaming video on demand. Since the film is produced by Troma Entertainment and Legendary Pictures, there’s no real indication of which streaming platform will get the film first.
If Cineverse is handling the SVOD distribution, it’s possible that The Toxic Avenger could land on the company’s Screambox streaming platform, which focuses solely on horror content. If that’s the case, it took Terrifier 3 four months to debut on Screambox, which happened on Feb. 14.
As such, if Cineverse plans on distributing The Toxic Avenger on SVOD and it follows the same pattern as Terrifier 3, it would likely arrive on Screambox anytime between Dec. 26 and 29.
The Toxic Avenger is new in theaters nationwide.