From week to week, the tone has changed dramatically.
Last week, Disney was celebrating
Black Widow's
US box office success
and shouting it from the rooftops.
The first Marvel movie to quench the thirst of Avengers fans since the onset of the coronavirus epidemic, this portrayal of mysterious contract killer Natasha Romanoff (still played by Scarlett Johansson) raked in $ 80 million in ticket sales .
A record since American cinemas reopened.
Read also:
Black Widow,
the first post-Covid record at the American box office
In a desire for unprecedented transparency, Disney even announced figures concerning its online exploitation of Cate Shortland's film: $ 60 million.
In the United States, unlike France,
Black Widow
was released in theaters and on Disney + for a premium subscription.
From 60 million receipts to 25 in a week
Seven days later, it's a cold shower. For its second weekend,
Black Widow
is in free fall. Only $ 25.6 million in revenue. That is a decrease of 68%. It is normal for a feature film to drop between the first and the second week of broadcasting. Rarely in these proportions however. Additional indignity, Natasha Romanoff gave first place to the very kitsch animated film
Space Jam: a new era
in which basketball player LeBron James made an alliance with Bugs Bunny. Moreover, Disney did not see fit to reveal new Disney + figures.
This tumble provoked the ire of cinema owners.
For their association, this is a sign that this hybrid exit strategy is a failure.
"Despite claims that this exit strategy born of the pandemic works, this setback shows that an exclusive theatrical release leads to more revenue for all stakeholders in each cycle of the film's life
,
" said
the corporation.
General tumble
Putting
Black Widow
online
on Disney + reaches an audience that does not necessarily have confidence in health protocols at the time of the rebound of the delta variant. But it also facilitates piracy, believes the association.
“How many Disney + subscribers share their password with their loved ones? The piracy has undoubtedly weighed on
Black Widow's
performance in
the United States and will affect its future performance in international markets where it has not yet been released, ”
the statement continued.
“Digital copies became available within minutes of going live on Disney +. Black Widow was the most downloaded movie on torrent the week it was released ”
.
Also adopted by Warner via its HBO Max platform, this hybrid output model, which is also that of
Space Jam: a new era
, puts operators upwind and also poses serious concerns for talent in front of and behind the camera. Part of the remuneration that a well-known blockbuster actor can claim comes from ticket sales. Since the film is released the same day online, how do you claim what is due? Especially since the studios are very secretive on the number of views garnered by their platform. To calm things down, Warner had signed a big check to Gal Gadot when
Wonder Woman 1984 was released
.
The fact remains that, as the Hollywood specialist press reminds us, the American box office still has a lot to do to regain its pre-Covid splendor. Even the ninth installment of the
Fast & Furious
saga
tops out at $ 154 million in revenue for one month of operation, and hasn't escaped a 67% drop in revenue between its first two weekends, either. And this while Universal still practices a room exclusivity, even if the studio has reduced this window. The return to normality, assuming it is possible, promises to be delicate.
