How to Watch "The King of Staten Island" In Australia

Are you ready for the BDE?

Remember when the coronavirus pandemic swept the globe and changed the way we all lived our lives, probably permanently? Yeah us too.

Thankfully, a bit of normalcy is returning bit by bit in Australia (where we’ve actually handled the COVID-19 outbreak pretty well, so far), and that includes the reopening of cinemas, mostly from July.

Western Australia was first to get permission to reopen movie houses, beginning 6 June, but as we asked at the time of the announcement: What were the cinemas even going to show? Most films set for release during the pandemic either had their premieres delayed—think F9, Mulan, Black Widow, A Quiet Place Part II and No Time to Die—while others went direct to Netflix or digital outlets, including The Lovebirds, Hearts and Bones, The Assistant and many more.

This brings us to The King of Staten Island, Pete Davidson’s semi-autobiographical star vehicle directed by Judd Apatow (Knocked Up, The Forty-Year-Old Virgin). In it, the SNL star plays a go-nowhere twentysomething dealing (or rather, not dealing) with the death of his firefighter father. (Davidson’s actual firefighting father died in 9/11.)

In April, Davidson and Apatow announced on Instagram that the picture would skip American cinemas and go direct to digital. Now, that day has basically come. It arrives in the US on Friday 12 June.

But what’s the situation for Australians?

Well, turns out The King of Staten Island isn’t going direct-to-digital here. Instead, it has been announced by Universal Pictures that it will instead play in Aussie cinemas beginning Thursday 6 August 16 July. 

It’s one of a whole suite of upcoming Universal flicks going to cinemas, including Waves on 9 July, Babyteeth on 23 July and Never Rarely Sometimes Always on 6 August.

So, even though you won’t be able to watch the Pete Davidson-penned comedy from the comfort of your self-imposed quarantine, you’ll get to see the comedy with a (socially distanced) crowd instead, which is how comedies are meant to be enjoyed anyway. Save that date!

Update: This article was updated to reflect Universal's decision to move up the release from 6 August to 16 July in Australia.

Header Image: Universal Pictures Australia