The second weekend of Black Widow is a big setback for the American cinema industry. The Marvel film was considerably less visited than in the successful premiere weekend.
Now the National Association of Theater Owners (NATO) has responded via Variety. They blame the hybrid appearance in both theaters and Disney+ for the 69% drop in box office revenue in the second weekend.
“Despite claims that this pandemic-era makeshift release strategy is a success for Disney and its concurrent release model, it demonstrates that an exclusive theatrical release means more revenue for all stakeholders in every cycle of the film’s life,” NATO believes.
Piracy and questions about Disney+ success
“Piracy has undoubtedly further influenced Black Widow’s performance and will affect its future performance in international markets where the film has yet to be released,” the organization said.
“The many questions that arise about Disney’s limited opening weekend release on streaming are quickly answered by Black Widow’s disappointing performance. The main answer is that simultaneous release is an artifact of the pandemic era and it must disappear along with the pandemic,” reads the final chord.
What do you think? Are you happy with the new release strategy of Disney+ and also HBO Max? Or were you happy with the old model that a cinema film only appears online / on disc after about three months?
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