As exclusively reported here on January 17th, Disney has – finally – confirmed the inevitable: “Black Widow” will be headed to Disney+ and theaters on the same day. Not so shocking if you’re a reader of this site, but another shape-shifting moment for the theatrical experience. [via Deadline]
Disney is coming off a year in which some of its biggest blockbusters entirely skipped theaters and went straight to their ever-growing Disney+ streaming service — those titles include “Soul,” “Artemis Fowl.” “Hamilton,” “Mulan,” and this past March’s “Raya and the Dragon.” This has begged many to ask the obvious question; Is this just the beginning of a streaming onslaught for the Mouse House? ‘
Well, we got our answer today. “Black Widow,” which was supposed to be released last April, is set for a June 2021 release on Disney+ and in theaters. Disney also announced the same streaming/theatrical setup for “Cruella.” Meanwhile, Pixar’s “Luca” will be skipping theaters and going exclusively on Disney+ on June 18th.
I wrote on 01.27.21:
“With the pandemic raging, and vaccinations being distributed at a snail’s pace in the U.S, the notion of theaters actually reopening nationwide and people willing to buy tickets is dwindling by the day. The real question one should be asking is why wouldn’t Disney release more movies straight to streaming? In 2020, their subscription growth went from 33 million accounts in the first quarter to an astonishing 86 million in the final quarter of the year. A big reason why was their decision to move “Mulan,” and “Soul” straight to streaming.”
With Netflix currently sitting at 200 million subscribers, one suspects that, with “Black Widow” and other titles migrating to Disney Plus, the streaming service will be inching ever-so-closely to Netflix-like numbers. Disney+ officially hit the 100 million subscriber mark last week.
With movie theaters, like AMC, sounding the alarm bells that they may not be able to continue business if studios continue to delay their releases until next year, the whole industry is going through this cataclysmic, shape-shifting moment, which means things will likely never be the same once this never-ending COVID-19 pandemic is finally done. You can expect more movies to make the move to streaming before the year is over.
Of course, we all know the rule: take these reactions with a grain of salt rather than treating them as gospel. Still, I will say that the film tested like gangbusters earlier this year, and Lionsgate clearly has confidence.