The 2023 R-rated comedy with a female cast debuts exclusively in theaters first, but here is when and where Joy Ride will be released on streaming.
A new R-rated comedy arrives in theaters first, but here is where and when Joy Ride will release on streaming afterward. The new movie directed by Adele Lim, who is best known as the writer of Crazy Rich Asians and Raya and the Last Dragon, follows a group of friends as they travel to China. The movie follows Audrey Sullivan (Ashley Park) and her best friend Lolo (Sherry Cola) as they go overseas to find Audrey’s birth mother. The R-rated female-led comedy also features Everything Everywhere All At Once breakout star Stephanie Hsu as a key character in the Joy Ride cast.
Although movie theaters are now dominated by superhero movies and franchise fare, Joy Ride is an example of the original movies that various studios are still making with theatrical audiences in mind. Comedies in particular have become increasingly less common on their own, as Lionsgate’s The Blackening brought a horror spoof to theaters and Sony’s No Hard Feelings delivered a raunchy rom-com. Joy Ride‘s excellent reviews have given it some hope to find an audience and be deemed a financial success at the box office. Even if that does not happen, it will be given a second life on streaming. Here is when Joy Ride 2023 will release on streaming.
Joy Ride Might Not Release On Streaming Until Early 2024
Those wanting to see the R-rated comedy should prioritize seeing it in theaters, as Lionsgate’s movies typically take months to get streaming release dates. The studio has been consistent about waiting six months from a movie’s theatrical debut to make it available on a streaming service. John Wick: Chapter 4 debuted in theaters in March 2023 and will not be streaming until late September. The same six-month window was utilized for 2022 releases The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent and Clerks III. Lionsgate is expected to do the same for The Blackening‘s streaming release window too.
Joy Ride releases in theaters on July 7, 2023. If Lionsgate continues their usual practices, Joy Ride‘s streaming release date will not be until January 2024 potentially. That would be six months from the movie’s theatrical debut. It is possible that the studio moves up the timetable for when Joy Ride will be on streaming to line up with the holidays, allowing the R-rated comedy to be available in late 2023 instead. Considering Lionsgate has rarely wavered on this stance regardless of box office performance or critical acclaim, interested parties will have to wait a long time to watch 2023’s Joy Ride movie on streaming.
Joy Ride Will Stream On Starz (& Eventually Peacock)
As for where Joy Ride will release on streaming, Lionsgate’s involvement as a distributor means that it will begin on Starz before going to Peacock. Lionsgate owns Starz, which is why the studio’s movies always begin streaming their first. However, Lionsgate also struck a deal with NBCUniversal and Peacock in 2022 to have all the studio’s movies begin streaming on Peacock during the Pay 2 window. This means that viewers will be able to watch Joy Ride on Starz in early 2024 before its streaming home moves to Peacock at some point later in the year.
Key Release Date
