On Friday, Disney announced that it would release the rest of its 2021 films exclusively in theaters for an extended period of time before putting them on sale at Disney + following the box office success of recent films despite the coronavirus pandemic.
The company’s media and entertainment division announced the move in a press release, which revealed that each of its next five films will have an exclusive theatrical release of at least 45 days before being offered in streaming to subscribers.
Upcoming films include the November release of Marvel’s “Eternals”, which follows a group of immortal beings with superhuman powers, as well as the long-awaited remake of the classic musical “West Side Story”, which is scheduled for premieres in December.
The following news reports that the latest Marvel movie, “Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings,” reported approximately $ 94.7 million in ticket sales to U.S. and Canadian cinemas over Labor Day weekend, setting a new record for the head September holiday opening week, according to Reuters.
The film was released exclusively in theaters for 45 days before being added to Disney +, a change from the simultaneous release of “Black Widow” in theaters and through Premier access to the streaming platform.
The dual release prompted a lawsuit from film star Scarlett Johansson, who argued that the move violated her contract, which set her salary based solely on the film’s box office performance. film.
Kareem Daniel, president of Disney Media & Entertainment Distribution, said in a statement Friday: “After the huge box office success of our summer films that included five of the first eight national releases of the year, we are thrilled to update our theatrical plans for the rest of 2021 “.
“As confidence in cinema continues to improve, we look forward to entertaining audiences in cinemas, while maintaining the flexibility to give our Disney + subscribers the gift of Encanto.” this holiday season, “he added, referring to the animated film that will be added to Disney + on Christmas Eve after an exclusive 30-day run in theaters.
While cinema attendance remains largely below pre-pandemic levels, more people have returned to show in person even amid the rises in the highly contagious delta variant.
AMC announced this week that Labor Day weekend has marked “the first time since the start of COVID that attendance over a 2021 weekend exceeded the same 2019 weekend. ”
The movie network also said it broke the revenue record over the holiday weekend.