Black Widow Should Go to Disney+ Said Disney Investor
WIth the news last week that Pixar’s upcoming release Soul would be going directly to Disney+ on December 25th, pressure continues to mount for Marvel’s’ Black Widow to get the same treatment! According to a recent piece in MovieWeb, a Disney investor is putting pressure on the company to take the film starring Scarlett Johansson directly to streaming.
Dan Loeb believes that sending high-profile films like Black Widow directly to Disney+ is the best idea moving forward. Loeb’s argument is that this would attract new subscribers while retaining current customers.
Loeb, has a $1 billion stake in the company and is being vocal about his concern that if Disney+ fails to get the proper investment then it will be forever second to streaming giant Netflix.
If you’ve been following along with MickeyBlog then you know that Disney+ has been a huge success so far with hits like The Mandalorian. The streaming service has already surpassed 60 million subscribers since launching last November. Fresh out of the gate, these are pretty fantastic numbers. However, by comparison Netflix still has 193 million subscribers. Loeb believes that a way to achieve higher subscriber numbers is to skip theaters and send 2021 dated films like Black Widow straight to Disney+
Photo Credit: IMAX.com
Loeb was quoted as saying, “My understanding is that the old-line executives don’t want to go over the top with their big tentpole movies, which is why they announced they were pushing Black Widow and other movies to 2021.” He continues, “I don’t think they appreciate the tiger they have by the tail, which is to say the value they can drive by moving into a subscription model, which has been adopted by everyone from Microsoft to Amazon. It’s so value accretive.”
Loeb takes his prediction one step further saying that COVID will have a long lasting impact on the way audiences perceive going to the movies. He says that movie theaters will become nothing more than a “novelty experience,” before saying that the world is “going to go largely toward online distribution.”
Though Disney has yet to publicly comment on whether or not they are considering Black Widow for a Disney+ release, Disney’s thinking on some levels does seem to align with Loebs. If you’ve been following along with MickeyBlog you know that there was a bit of a shake-up at Disney HQ last week as the company looks to reorganize in a way that will put more focus on streaming especially while the theme parks remain closed or at lower attendance due to COVID.
As of going to print, Black Widow is set to open in theaters on May 7, 2021. This comes almost a year after its original release date. This new date had a knock-on effect of pushing the rest of the MCU films back including Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings which was moved from May 7th, 2021 to July 9th, 2021. The Eternals which is moving from February 12th, 2021 to November 5th, 2021.
This is a story that we’ll continue to follow closely. Readers are encouraged to keep checking in with us for further news and updates!
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