Black Widow: Disney has no plans to flood yet

Disney CEO Bob Chapek has confirmed that Marvel’s Black Widow is still focusing on a theatrical series, rather than going straight to streaming. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Chapek confirmed on an investor call on Thursday that the upcoming Marvel superhero movie starring Scarlett Johansson is still ready for a theatrical release rather than a Disney + debut, although he also stated that the company will be flexible stay with its theater release calendar and will reconsider the release strategies if necessary.

“We still plan for it to be a theatrical release,” Chapek said during Disney’s quarterly call this week, reaffirming the company’s commitment to releasing Black Widow on the big screen before announcing the company’s supervision of the situation further touched. , “We’re going to be watching very closely to see if the strategy needs to be revisited.”

While Chapek reiterated the company’s intention to release Black Widow theatrically, he did not confirm whether the movie will be released on May 7, 2021, as planned, and whether it will get a setback again in the coming months. According to THR, Chapek outlined a number of factors that will monitor the company, including the status of theater closings, as well as the audience’s demand for the theater experience.

There has been speculation for some time about whether Black Widow may debut on Disney +, with rumors accelerating shortly after Disney began to change course with a number of its other planned theater releases. Mulan premiered at Disney + in September for a $ 29.99 premium, while Pixar’s Soul skipped theaters and wanted to watch streaming in December at no extra cost.

Disney continued to reevaluate its release plans as we entered the new year, with the company announcing in January that Robert Zemeckis’ live remake of Pinocchio had been moved to a Disney + release. This news came shortly after a report spread indicating that the company was watching over Disney + premieres for some of the upcoming family films of the tent pole.

Black Widow’s issue date of May 7, 2021 is almost exactly one year after the original issue date of May 1, 2020. The coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic first prompted Disney to move Black Widow to November 6, 2020 before the company decided to launch the date to move again. However, in March last year, via an anonymous Marvel insider, it was reported that “the pressure on Black Widow does not affect the MCU timeline.”

Read the overview of the biggest and most notable developments in the MCU, on Disney + and in Marvel’s comics this year for more information on the future lead of projects and releases.

Adele Ankers is a freelance entertainment journalist. You can reach her Twitter.