This study investigates the emerging research landscape surrounding hybrid film release strategies and box-office performance through a bibliometric and theory-building approach. A Scopus dataset was analysed using VOSviewer and bibliometric to identify publication trends, keyword networks, co-authorship structures, and bibliographic coupling patterns. The analysis reveals four dominant clusters: box-office performance, predictive analytics, artificial intelligence and machine learning, and marketing analytics. However, hybrid distribution remains a peripheral theme within the broader movie-performance literature. Building on these findings, the study develops the Exclusivity–Event Trade-off Framework (EETF), which explains theatrical outcomes through the interaction between exclusivity erosion and event amplification. The framework proposes that the effect of hybrid release on box-office performance is mediated by audience substitution and window erosion, and moderated by film type and market context. The paper contributes by integrating bibliometric evidence with a mechanism-based conceptual model and by offering a future empirical research agenda for global film distribution and OTT competition...