Black Widow's Date-And-Date Release Cost Disney A Whopping Sum Of $600M!

Los Angeles, January 5 - Hollywood film studios experimented with day-and-date releases in theaters and on streamers in 2021, mainly because of the covid-19 pandemic. Warner Bros. sent its entire slate of 2021 in theaters and on HBO Max simultaneously, a decision that was heavily criticized by some of the top Hollywood filmmakers.

Walt Disney Co. too did the same with Marvel Studios. tentpole movie, "Black Widow" starring Scarlett Johansson. Upon its release in July 2021, the superhero movie made $80 million domestically in the opening weekend + $20 million via Disney+ as announced by the streamer. However, after the opening weekend, the movie fell flat at the box office, and Disney also stopped giving its streaming numbers.



After the low box office performance of the film, exhibitors blamed Disney Co. for its decision of making the film available in theaters and on a streamer simultaneously. They were right as "Black Widow" was one of the most pirated Hollywood titles of 2021, as revealed earlier. This caused heavy damage for the exhibitors who had high hopes for this Marvel movie.

However, what was earlier revealed wasn't the full picture. According to the latest report by Deadline, "Black Widow" was the most pirated film of 2021. The report suggests that the day-and-date release of the film invited over 20 million pirated downloads, causing Disney to lose an estimated $600 million in streaming revenue.

While the loss caused by piracy was massive, Scarlett Johansson too had sued Walt Disney Company over a breach in the contract that originally guaranteed an exclusive theatrical release. At the time, it was estimated that the decision to release via streaming cost Johnasson $50 million.

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