COMEBACK? ‘CUT!’
Disney abandons ’20 release of blockbusters
Hollywood’s hopes of a comeback this year are officially dead.
Disney put the last nail in the coffin on Wednesday when it delayed several much-anticipated fall flicks, including “Black Widow,” starring Scarlett Johansson, and Steven Spielberg’s “West Side Story.” The move, while not surprising due to the still-raging pandemic, has experts calling it a wrap on the 2020 moviegoing season.
“Black Widow,” about a KGB operative that had been set for a Nov. 6 release, will now hit theaters in May 2021, Disney said. “West Side Story,” a new movie version of the classic Broadway musical, has been delayed a full year to December 2021.
The two films were among the biggest flicks left on Hollywood’s schedule this year, and there were lingering hopes they might encourage people to return to theaters where state and local governments allow them to reopen.
But analysts say Disney had little choice but to pull them after seeing the results of recent experiments in the form of Warner Bros.’ spy thriller “Tenet” and Disney’s own “Mulan.”
“Tenet,” starring Robert Pattinson, reeled in a tepid $36 million in domestic box office since hitting screens on Sept. 3, which MKM partners analyst Eric Handler says proves that big releases can’t make it without movie houses in major cities such as New York and Los Angeles, which remain closed.
“Tenet’s US results definitely showed us that Middle America cannot carry a tentpole film. You need the coasts,” he said, adding until that happens, studios will delay the release of their best movies.
Disney bypassed the US theaters entirely with its live-action remake of “Mulan,” releasing the flick exclusively to its new streaming service Disney+. It then told customers who were already shelling out $6.99 a month for Disney+ that they needed to fork over an additional $30 to see the film, which cost $200 million to produce.
Although Disney has not released official results, third-party data from Samba TV suggest that about 1.1 million households downloaded the flick on its opening weekend of Sept. 4. That translates to about $33.5 million in sales, a figure, if accurate, is a “disaster,” according to Lightshed Partners analyst Rich Greenfield.
“‘Mulan’ did not work. It is not a viable alternative to Disney’s theatrical strategy,” he said. “It works for smaller movies.”