It should not be a big surprise that the latest marvel tent pole has had a successful debut weekend. But what is impressive about the performance of Black Widow so far is the immense amount of money it has made from PPV/premium access on Disney+. It is being reported that Black Widow made $80 millionDollars at the movie theater and $60 million via premium purchases through Disney+. Whether that is due to people avoiding the cinema for Covid reasons or just taking advantage of the convenience of it all remains to be seen. Certainly with modern movie prices, which can be as much as $15 a person a group of three staying home to watch a movie would be $15 less from the start. But the performance is stronger than any other movie that has debuted since movie theaters began to open up again.
“’Black Widow’s’ strong performance this weekend affirms our flexible distribution strategy of making franchise films available in theaters for a true cinematic experience and, as COVID concerns continue globally, providing choice to consumers who prefer to watch at home on Disney+,” said Kareem Daniel, the chairman of Disney Media and Entertainment Distribution, in a statement.
Lest other studios or even Disney misinterpret what is happening right now the entire industry should keep in mind that black widow as part of the gargantuan Marvel cinematic universe. It is a proven winner with 24 popular movies that anchor Disney+ to begin with. The movie also follows a space of highly successful streaming exclusive shows currently wrapping up with Loki this week. The streaming content has allowed Marvel fans to stay engaged with the brand and look forward to upcoming projects to see how they all weave together with the next phase of the MCU.
“Marvel films are a unique monster,” said Comscore’s senior media analyst Paul Dergarabedian. “I don’t know that you’ll see this for every release.”
