Marvel’s “Black Widow” Surpasses $60M in Disney+ Premier Access Sales During Opening Weekend
Disney has had its first big hit since the global pandemic shut down theaters in March 2019. Disney says Marvel's Black Widow grossed $215M globally during its opening weekend, including $80M in domestic box office, $78M in international box office, and over $60M in Disney+ Premier Access. The company says domestically the film surpass $100M in domestic consumer spend (between theatrical and Premier Access) on opening weekend.
“Once again, Marvel has delivered an exceptional film to the delight of fans worldwide with Black Widow achieving numerous milestones in the current marketplace,” said Kareem Daniel, Chairman, Disney Media and Entertainment Distribution. “Black Widow’s strong performance this weekend affirms our flexible distribution strategy of making franchise films available in theaters for a true cinematic experience and, as COVID concerns continue globally, providing choice to consumers who prefer to watch at home on Disney+.”
To date, Disney says that Marvel fans have streamed nearly 3 billion hours of content on Disney+.
This is the first time Disney has released any data on how much customers have spent on Premier Access.
During their Earnings Call in May, Disney CEO Bob Chapek explained that Premier Access exists, in part, to provide a viewing option to audiences who may not feel comfortable seeing a movie in a theater. The company will release their next Premier Access title on July 30th with “Jungle Cruise”, starring Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson and Emily Blunt.
Prior to this, it wasn’t clear how successful Premier Access has been.
While Disney+ has been on a remarkable run past 100 million subscribers, Analytics firm Antenna tracked the performance of the latest extra-fee release on the platform: “Raya and the Last Dragon.”
Antenna notes that “Raya” pulled in 20% fewer PVOD purchases than “Mulan” in its opening weekend. But it is important to note that “Mulan” never got a theatrical run, while “Raya” opened in theaters on the same date it was available on Disney+. “Raya” also didn’t benefit the service with a boost to regular Disney+ subscriptions, which fell 30% from the week prior.
The biggest Disney+ theatrical release was the July 2020 premiere of “Hamilton,” but that was available to all subscribers. Its success may have inspired the Premier Access plan, which was first available for “Mulan.” But the “Mulan” release only drew a fraction of “Hamilton’s” new subscribers.
Part of the problem may be that these Premier Access titles are available to regular Disney+ subscribers who are willing to wait three months for the films to be included in the regular subscription price. For a remake like “Mulan” or an original film not based on a pre-existing property like “Raya,” the wait appears not to bother Disney+ subscribers. But it’s clear, that with a big tentpole, like “Black Widow”, there is huge demand to stream it from home.
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.”