Disney CEO Says Company Will Now Be Prioritizing Streaming Over Theatrical

These are trying times, my friends. The theatrical experience has been all, but DEAD since March. The COVID-19 pandemic has shut down the industry as a whole in favor of the digital and streaming distribution of films. Christopher Nolan tried to save the day by releasing “Tenet” in late August and, although it amassed a whopping $300 million outside the United States, domestically, Nolan’s film mightily struggled, barely amassing $40 million dollars as of this article going live. The positive domino-effect that Nolan so desperately wanted for cinema failed and now we are all left wondering if this is very much the end of movie theaters as we know it.

This sad state of affairs continued this afternoon when Disney CEO Bob Chapek announced that the Mouse House was no longer concentrating on its billion-dollar-making theatrical releases, but, instead, would heavily concentrate on Direct-to-Consumer services such as Disney+ [via THR].

“Given the incredible success of Disney+ and our plans to accelerate our direct-to-consumer business, we are strategically positioning our Company to more effectively support our growth strategy and increase shareholder value,” Chapek said. “Managing content creation distinct from distribution will allow us to be more effective and nimble in making the content consumers want most, delivered in the way they prefer to consume it. Our creative teams will concentrate on what they do best — making world-class, franchise-based content — while our newly centralized global distribution team will focus on delivering and monetizing that content in the most optimal way across all platforms, including Disney+, Hulu, ESPN+ and the coming Star international streaming service.”

Disney has already axed theatrical releases for “Artemis Fowl,” “The New Mutants,” “Mulan” “Hamilton,” and “Soul” in favor of Disney+ debuts and it’s only going to be more pronounced in the weeks and months to come.