Streaming came to revolutionize the way content is consumed, from music to cinema, today users have dozens of options and titles at their fingertips with a single tap, so Disney, one of the largest entertainment companies, decided to bet the maximum on its platform, Disney +.
Despite the good reception that the platform has had which, according to the latest Disney financial report, has 116 million subscribers, just over half of Netflix’s current user base, this has not been enough to make simultaneous launches the best strategy to enchant consumers.
That is why the house of Mickey Mouse decided to take two steps back and say goodbye to the simultaneous premieres at the box office and its streaming platform, Disney +, at least that is how it was announced for the five remaining Disney Media & Entertainment Distribution films that will be released. this 2021, but what is behind this decision?
Disney’s reason
Through a release, the giant of the entertainment industry reported that of the five films to be released this year, four will have a minimum window of exclusive premiere in theaters of 45 days, and one more, Charm, will have a 30-day window, so that users can see it in streaming The 24th of December.
According to Kareem Daniel, president of Disney Media & Entertainment Distribution, this change in Disney’s plans is due to “Tremendous box office success” of the films released in the summer, of which five of the eight films released were among the best releases in the United States.
“As confidence in going to the movies continues to improve, we look forward to entertaining audiences in theaters, while maintaining the flexibility to give our Disney + subscribers the gift of Charm in this Christmas season, ”he added.
This will undoubtedly benefit the film industry, not only in the United States, but in Mexico and the entire world, as it will provide an opportunity for the sector to recover in the last quarter of the year with the films that will reach the big screen.
Black Widow, Scarlett Johansson and the antecedent
We must consider that some of the premieres mentioned in the statement are ‘Cruella’, ‘Jungle Cruise’ and ‘Black Widow’, tapes that were released at the same time at the box office and streaming, But thanks to this and the effects of the pandemic, the performance of the premieres in the hegemonic format was affected.
One of the most controversial cases was that of ‘Black Widow’, a film starring Scarlett Johansson, and which unleashed a whole media conflict, as well as legal, thanks to the famous simultaneous premiere in theaters and Disney +.
At the end of July this year, the actress assured that within her contract it was guaranteed that the premiere of the new movie ‘Black Widow’ would be exclusive in cinemas, and that his salary would be based largely on the film’s box office earnings, but this was not respected.
As for the figures, the film managed to raise about 80 million dollars in theaters in the United States and Canada, as well as 78 million dollars more for the international theatrical release, during its first opening weekend.
Also, you must add the rents in the Disney + Premier Access, which generated 60 million dollars more to achieve the 215 million dollars in a single weekend.
However, just a week later, box office revenues plummeted, reporting an 80 percent drop in ticket sales during its second week of release, which inflamed the National Association of Theater Owners (NATO), who directly blamed Disney + for causing audiences to no longer want to visit movie theaters.
Given this, the legal conflict between Johansson and Disney has been escalating to levels in which the relationship between both parties seems irreparable, since the production company would have decided to break all labor contact with the actress, who would be asking for about 100 million dollars as compensation for company decisions.
This opened a door on the future of streaming, which by then would seem much more uncertain than today, especially against Premier Access and all those systems that the platforms hoped to implement to shorten the windows with movie theaters. .
Although nothing of this is mentioned in the official Disney statement, there is no doubt that the conflict with the actress could also have influenced the decision made by the Mickey Mouse house to keep exclusively in theaters the premieres of his remaining films of the year. year, however, the real reason would not be a victory for Johansson.
A truly successful premiere
In response to a crisis, Marvel’s new film, “Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings,” was released exclusively in theaters, becoming the first Marvel film to be screened exclusively in theaters since the pandemic began. .
This was due to the fact that China, a key international market to be a success at the box office, decided to prohibit its projection before the casting and the perception of the plot, since the government of the Asian country has considered that the comic on which it was based “Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings” has racist elements and is full of reductionist stereotypes.
Given this, it is clear that neither Marvel nor Disney were willing to let the bans hurt their earnings, so they decided to change the game, forgetting about hybrid premieres and betting everything in theaters.
In its opening weekend, the film managed to gross an estimated US $ 71.4 million at the US box office this weekend, making it the second-highest opening for any film released during the pandemic, as well. as the highest of all movies released on Labor Day weekend.
Internationally, the new Marvel film added another 56.2 million dollars in ticket sales, closing with a global estimate of 127.6 million for its opening weekend, however, unlike Black Widow, the tape has not received a box office crash.
With this in mind, it is much more likely that Shang-Chi’s performance had a greater influence on the decision announced by Disney, which undoubtedly sets a new precedent in the world of cinema, especially when large companies continue to discover how to get there. to viewers in the midst of a new variant of coronavirus, which has not diminished the desire to return to theaters, becoming a watershed for streaming, which seems that, at least at Disney, will again go into the background by now.