Hollywood has been frantic over the past 24 hours with reports of Disney and Marvel’s Black Widow having been delayed again. It seems like only yesterday we were speculating about the film’s delay back in late 2020.
The film is due to kick off the next phase of the Marvel cinematic universe and has a stellar cast and a huge potential box office to go with it.
The current release date is May 7th. But that seems very very unlikely. Many studios are already making changes to their slate as we’ve seen with MGM, Warner Bros. Pictures and most recently Paramount.
Black Widow Is Not For Disney Plus
Credit: Marvel Studios
Read more: Disney Is Now Going To Release Pixar’s Soul On Disney Plus – Not In Cinemas
This isn’t a film for Disney Plus, it’s specifically budgeted and created to generate box office revenue that the streaming service can’t match. With the debut of WandaVision on the streaming platform, the phase 4 build has just begun.
As cases continue to surge across the US, UK & the rest of Europe without a huge change over the next 2 months, the date will move. This certainly has wider implications across Europe & the UK. Over the past 24 hours speculation is ramping up that:
- Chancellor Rishi Sunak is about to extend the Furlough scheme beyond April (City AM)
- And the Lockdown (or most likely, measures) will be in place till the summer. (Guardian)
Evidently, this also affects the release of blockbusters. Currently, there are the markets in Asia, Australia and a small section of the US.
Europe is in lockdown
Credit: Marvel Studios
Read more: Marvel Has Decided Not To Release Black Widow Via Disney Plus
Europe’s shut down. The UK is shut down. That’s not to say that this market dominates box office at all, but it does have an effect. It has an effect not only on income but on international chains deciding to open sites.
The situation seemed more positive last Easter: Tenet eventually confirmed its summer release and cinemas opened up again across the globe. But then towards winter, New York and Los Angeles remained closed, and the virus began running out of control once again – causing lockdowns almost everywhere outside of Asia.
Thus this situation which you could foresee in September/October forced film delays such as No Time To Die. We’ve already seen an effect with the Warner Bros. Pictures, HBO Max and cinema release agreement cause controversy, lawsuits and box office loss.
Godzilla vs Kong has now moved in France to a week earlier in March, which probably indicates a change in markets outside the US. But France seems to be suffering greatly and not at all looking at opening Cinemas in March… which makes you wonder why they even announced that date to begin with.
Black Widow’s delay was Inevitable
Credit: Marvel Studios
Read more: Marvel Studios Reportedly Considering Releasing Black Widow On Disney Plus
Black Widow moving as soon as Europe entered lockdowns in January/December seemed almost inevitable. Walt Disney released no new films outside of Onward in the US/Europe in 2020. The market isn’t there. And for a potential juggernaut such as Black Widow it doesn’t at all seem likely they’ll take a risk of having cinemas shuttered in May either.
What do you think of the news that Black Widow has been delayed? Should the film release on Disney Plus anyway? Let us know in the comments below.
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