While Disney+ Sees Huge Success with ‘Black Widow’ Premier Access, Theaters Continue to Suffer
In response to the pandemic, Disney, WarnerMedia, and other media companies changed their strategies by introducing simultaneous theatrical and PVOD releases.
With many consumers left hesitant to venture out to movie theaters, or finding local theaters closed as a result of the pandemic, Disney+ began offering Premier Access. This option gives subscribers the opportunity to stream a Disney title at the same time as it opens in theaters for $30 in addition to their Disney+ subscription fee.
The latest Disney+ Premier Access and theatrical release, Black Widow was a success for the streaming service, but it didn’t perform as well in theaters. Theater owners have placed the blame on Disney+ because consumers could stream the movie at home, which decreased ticket sales. This is a smart move for streaming services like Disney+ and HBO Max. When Disney’s movies are in theaters, they keep about 60% of their profits, while almost all of the profits from Disney+ Premier Access stay within the company.
Black Widow
Natasha Romanoff, also known as Black Widow, confronts the darker parts of her ledger when a dangerous conspiracy with ties to her past arises. Pursued by a force that will stop at nothing to bring her down, Natasha must deal with her history as a spy and the broken relationships left in her wake long before she became an Avenger.
Wall Street firm Cowen shared some insight into the importance of Disney films for theaters in a recent report.
“We think the dual-window strategy was pretty clearly net accretive for Disney; for theaters, on the other hand, the dual-window strategy presents a serious problem. While for Disney the dual offering made sense (particularly given still-ongoing COVID-19 concerns), the 27% to 35% estimated hit to box office for the theaters is pretty devastating — particularly so given that Disney’s tentpole films constitute one of the last reliable sources of attendance for theaters,” the report said.
Cowen estimates that Disney+ Premier Access has resulted in a $50 million to $70 million loss for theaters. In the first weekend that Black Widow was released, it brought in $60 million on Disney+. This has been an issue for theaters since similar titles would have been considered a hit in theatrical release — without the involvement of Disney+ Premier Access.
According to a TV Time survey, consumers who watch family-friendly movies are likely to want to do so at home. As long as families have access to Disney+ and HBO Max, they can stream movies like Cruella and Space Jam from the comfort of their homes.
Disney+
Disney+ is a video streaming service with over 13,000 series and films from Disney, Pixar, Marvel, Star Wars, National Geographic, The Muppets, and more. It is available in 61 countries and 21 languages. It is notable for its popular original series like “The Mandalorian,” “Ms. Marvel,” “Loki,” “Obi-Wan Kenobi,” and “Andor.”
In the past, movie theaters have relied heavily on animated titles to bring in families. Without animated films being released exclusively in cinemas, movie theaters have suffered since families have been able to watch the movies at home instead.
This doesn’t mean movie theaters are completely doomed, however. As more people return to their normal routines, they may go back to the movie theater, also. Disney has one more simultaneous theatrical and Disney+ Premier Access release, Jungle Cruise due this year. After that, animated movies from various studios will be released exclusively in theaters. This is a chance for movie theaters to come back from the pandemic and PVOD releases and — hopefully for them — draw in more consumers.