Movie theater owners are crying foul with regard to the supposed win-win scenario of simultaneous theatrical and streaming releases after “Black Widow” took a 67% dive in box office sales this weekend. The blame, according to the National Association of Theater Owners (abbreviated as NATO, of course), lies squarely with Disney+’s Premier Access release strategy.
“Despite assertions that this pandemic-era improvised release strategy was a success for Disney and the simultaneous release model, it demonstrates that an exclusive theatrical release means more revenue for all stakeholders in every cycle of the movie’s life,” said NATO.
The film is the latest in Marvel’s endless parade of superhero spectaculars. Scarlett Johansen reprises her role as super spy Black Widow in a pre-Avengers backstory about her upbringing and history.
“Black Widow” pulled in $80 million on its opening weekend, but has since taken a precipitous drop at the cinema, only managing $26 million this weekend.Disney reported $60 million in streaming sales via disney+ on opening weekend, but has not yet revealed how the film has been doing since its premiere.
NATO insists that if Disney had executed a more traditional, theater-exclusive release for the movie it would have performed better for all parties by netting $90 million or more on its opening weekend.
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.
NATO’s statement continues:
”Combined with the lost theatrical revenue and forgone traditional PVOD revenue, the answer to these questions will show that simultaneous release costs Disney money in revenue per viewer over the life of the film.”
Unsurprisingly, NATO has a well documented history of framing its concerns about the future of film premieres by advocating for the additional profit and strategic options it argues are already baked in to a debut that has a theater-exclusive window.
However, with the onset of the pandemic, many of the changes that NATO feared on the horizon came rapidly into focus as studios have had to figure out how to still wring as much profit as possible out of films that became impossible to distribute via traditional means.
Warner Bros. struck a deal with HBO Max to pop all of the studio's films this year directly on the streaming platform at the same time as their theatrical debuts, and disney+ has been showcasing new releases behind a $30 “premiere access” paywall.
Given Disney’s strength with must-see family-friendly content, a $30 price tag to avoid the hassle of overpriced concessions and navigating a movie theater with kids in tow is a tantalizing prospect even before one considers any risks associated with COVID-19.
The platform will be executing its maligned simultaneous release strategy once again this month with the debut of the Dwayne Johnson-starring “Jungle Cruise.”
Films that have still been released via traditional methods, like Paramount’s “A Quiet Place Part 2,” are still feeling the affects of the industry’s anxiety with shortened theatrical windows and expedited appearances on streaming platforms.
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 spite of relaxed restrictions and the overwhelming desire to pretend that COVID-19 is in the rearview, the virus remains a risk. Additionally, fears over the potential spread of the Delta-19 variant still have studio heads wringing their hands over how to best approach a reliable return to maximum profitability.
NATO remains coldly unmoved by continuing health concerns. The organization is insisting that studios commit to theatrical releases in an effort to help cinemas pull themselves back into the black after the pandemic’s devastation of the industry.
“The many questions raised by Disney’s limited release of streaming data opening weekend are being rapidly answered by ‘Black Widow’s’ disappointing and anomalous performance,” said NATO. “The most important answer is that simultaneous release is a pandemic-era artifact that should be left to history with the pandemic itself.”
For its part, Disney seems content to march forward as planned.
“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+.”
If trends are to continue, Disney has only more success to look forward to once “Black Widow” escapes the Premiere Access paywall and spin kicks into the platform’s general library. “Raya and the Last Dragon,” Disney’s critically-acclaimed animated feature recently did the same, making big viewership gains after becoming available for free to those with a Disney+ subscription.