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National Theater Owners Association slams Disney for making its summer superhero tent pole Black Widow available on its premium paid streaming service at the same time it opens in theaters. They add that the film’s “staggering collapse” is proof of the wrong idea of the double exit strategy.
In a press release, theater owners insist that the film’s poor box office performance is due to viewers staying at home and watching the film online. And Disney’s streaming movement has robbed theaters of a lot of revenue as a result, the hollywood reporter revealed.
“Despite claims that this hasty pandemic-era release strategy has been a success for Disney and the concurrent release model, it demonstrates that an exclusive theatrical release means more revenue for all stakeholders at every cycle of the film’s life, “the national organization said.
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The film starring Scarlett Johansson immediately fell to No. 2 at the box office for its second weekend in theaters, earning $ 26.3 million from July 16-18. It was a 67% drop in its opening weekend and one of the worst drops for any Marvel superhero movie.
Scarlett Johansson in Black Widow. (Marvel Studios).
Theater owners are also furious with how Disney announced the film’s opening week earnings, as they added the $ 60 million in online fees to the $ 80 million in box office revenue. Disney charged home viewers $ 30 to watch the movie online during its opening weekend.
“The many questions raised by Disney’s limited opening weekend streaming data release are quickly answered by the disappointing and anomalous performance of Black Widow,” the theater group added. “The most important answer is that simultaneous release is an artifact of the pandemic era that should be left to history along with the pandemic itself. “
In its first two weeks, Black Widow reportedly earned $ 264 million at the box office, but that number climbs to $ 324 million with added online sales.
Theater owners also say they and Disney likely lost money on Black Widow with hacking and password sharing.
Presumably the family-oriented Disney + household is bigger. How? How much password sharing is there among Disney + subscribers? Combined with the loss of theatrical revenue and traditional PVOD revenue, the answer to these questions will show that the simultaneous release costs Disney money in revenue per viewer over the life of the film.
The hack has undoubtedly further affected Black Widow’s performance and will affect its future performance in international markets where it has not yet opened. Blank digital copies became available within minutes of their release on Disney +. Black Widow was the most torrential movie of the week ending July 12. “It’s also available on a myriad of illegal streaming sites on the Internet.
Theater owners also criticized HBO for the same streaming practice. But HBO and Disney say they will start leaving the first-run movies in theaters again and airing them months later as soon as the pandemic subsides.
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