The Walt Disney Company’s CEO Bob Chapek defends “Black Widow” release to both Disney+ and theaters in a recent Disney call, saying the decision offered consumers “more choice.”
Marvel fans everywhere are quite familiar with the fact that the Marvel Cinematic Universe film “Black Widow” was supposed to be released exclusively to theaters last year. However, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, movie houses everywhere closed their doors. Additionally, even with the reopening of some, many fans still didn’t feel safe returning to the big screen.
As a result of this shift in the industry, every movie company in Hollywood lost money. In an attempt to salvage some of these company’s losses, film company’s like Warner Bros. and Disney turned to their streaming services to simultaneously release their films both on streaming and in theaters–which is the case for the upcoming release of “Black Widow.”
Unlike Warner Bros., who has been utilizing its HBO MAX service to make its theatrical releases available to subscribers at no extra charge, Disney+ has been holding its major releases to the streaming service behind a $30 paywall–this same paywall will be in place for the release of “Black Widow.”
During a virtual appearance at J.P. Morgan’s 49th annual Global Technology, Media and Communications Conference, Chapek spoke to this release, saying: “One of the things we learned is that flexibility is good. We’re really celebrating that flexibility .. we’re trying to offer consumers more choice.”
It goes without saying that Marvel Studios films typically see extreme returns at the box-office. Although, given the release for Black Widow or even the upcoming Shang-Chi, the film company most likely will not see its usual return.
“Black Widow” will arrive on both Disney+ at the premium price of $30 and in theaters on July 9th.
What are your thoughts on Disney choosing to release “Black Widow” to both Disney+ and theaters? Let us know in the comments!
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