Disney Delays Black Widow Release
Disney Has Changed the Release Date for Black Widow
The Walt Disney Company has faced a slew of challenging decisions in recent days. This latest cut feels like the last straw, though.
In a widely predicted move, Disney has delayed the release of Black Widow, the next Marvel movie, from its scheduled May 1st date. The explanation is, of course, Coronavirus and the current Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommendations.
Since the CDC discourages gatherings of 50 or more and some have suggested a limit of 10, movie theater chains have gone on hiatus. Both AMC Theatres and Regal Cinemas have closed all movie theaters. AMC has indicated that its screens will remain offline for 6-12 weeks, while Regal is saying that it’s closed indefinitely.
AMC and Regal represent the two largest theater chains in the industry. While Cinemark hasn’t yet followed their lead at the time of publication, Black Widow would still lack the necessary screens to earn the amount of revenue that it should.
Disney really had no choice here with so much in flux. Unfortunately, the delay of Black Widow from its May 1st release date comes with ripple effects…
About the Timing…
Studio executives had planned for the Scarlett Johansson film to become the first Disney-Marvel Cinematic Universe film after Avengers: Endgame. As a reminder, Spider-Man: Far from Home was a Sony Pictures release.
While the setting for Black Widow takes place immediately after Captain America: Winter Soldier, movie fans expected the film to reveal the status of some Marvel superheroes in the wake of Thanos’ defeat.
As we’re frequently discussing on MarvelBlog, Disney has intricately coordinated the entirety of Phase Four of the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU). The expectation is that The Falcon and the Winter Soldier will capitalize on events from Black Widow and possibly even share one or more of the same characters.
Obviously, Black Widow must come out before The Falcon and the Winter Soldier debuts on Disney+ for that to work. As such, a prolonged societal shutdown could force the delay of upcoming Disney+ MCU titles.
Will Phase Four of the MCU Get Delayed?
Now, that’s looking far in the future. I do not believe that it will happen. I’m saying it to show how much of a problem this situation creates for Disney. The entire Phase Four release schedule is a house of cards, and the wind is starting to pick up.
Disney will need Black Widow to come out before August. That’s just how it is for them because of the way the company has structured Phase Four.
So, the current release date for Black Widow is “TBD” aka to be determined. Usually, this theater industry jargon means that something will experience an extended delay.
With Black Widow, I don’t believe that’s the case. Instead, I suspect that the film will receive a theatrical release by the end of June. That’s pure speculation but also an educated guess.
My belief is that movie theaters will ramp back up in time for the usual slate of summer blockbusters, all of which should do better than expected due to societal cabin fever.
But the delay of Black Widow feels like the universe is piling on, doesn’t it?