Professionally filmed stage musicals, or “pro-shots”, are increasingly being released as cinema events, giving audiences a cheaper and more accessible alternative to costly Broadway tickets and travel. Once mainly limited to archives, public television or brief special screenings, these productions are now attracting substantial box-office audiences and demonstrating that familiarity from streaming can strengthen, rather than weaken, demand for theatrical releases.

Hamilton set the modern precedent after its original-cast recording became a major Disney+ event during the pandemic, before later performing strongly in cinemas. More recently, Hadestown earned more than $10m in its opening North American release and over $20m overall after its planned five-day run was extended, outperforming several conventional films; SIX The Musical Live!, filmed from the original West End production, is following it into US cinemas.