‘Black Widow’ bolsters blockbusters-at-home
The long-awaited “Black Widow” set a pandemic box office record last weekend when it opened to $80 million at the North American box office, surpassing the $70 million last month’s “F9: The Fast Saga” hauled in during its opening weekend.
But the bigger story is the $60 million that “Black Widow” brought in via Disney+, where it is available for $30 on its Premier Access service. Yes, $80 million is more than $60 million. But the first number is business as usual, and the second number is where the business is headed.
It is newsworthy that Disney released its Premier Access figures at all. Those numbers have traditionally been kept close to the vest, same with Netflix viewership figures and ratings for all the major streaming services. We only hear about them when they have a big number to tout, otherwise it’s all speculation.
Disney likely released the figure to bolster “Black Widow’s” already big debut weekend numbers. Add ‘em up and you have a $140 million opening, which is on par with the kind of opening “Black Widow” may have experienced had it hit screens on time, back in May 2020, in the alternate timeline where the pandemic had never happened.
But it did happen, and we live in a changed world now. The pandemic shuttered theaters and caused movie studios to realign their properties. Some blockbusters waited out the storm while others were shuffled to streaming services. Warner Bros. struck a deal to release its full 2021 theatrical slate in theaters and concurrently on HBO Max. And all the while, audiences got very used to watching things at home.
That behavior is not changing. So while there’s still plenty to be said for the experience of going to the movies, many are finding that watching a blockbuster from the comfort of their house — where the snacks are cheaper, you can pause at will and hit the bathroom without missing the big climatic fight scene — is just as fulfilling.
Disney doesn’t mind if you stay in and watch “Black Widow” at home; in fact, Mickey Mouse may prefer it. The $60 million gross from at-home viewing goes straight back to the company; because the movie is on its own streaming service — which subscribers are already paying a monthly subscription fee for, mind you — there’s no splitting the revenues with a third party operator, such as a cable company or a movie theater.
At $30 a rental, that equates to around 2 million homes that ordered up “Black Widow.” Some may have watched it alone, but it’s fair to say in the majority of those homes, two or three people gathered in the living room to watch Scarlett Johansson and Florence Pugh kick butt. With today’s average ticket costing $9.19, Disney is still making more money than if people had gone to the theater and seen it (and again, they don’t have to share the profits with anyone else). Conceivably, there are even those who went to see it in the theater, then came home and rented it, since athome viewing allows for unlimited repeat viewings. Even more reason to say ch-ching.
Now not every movie is “Black Widow,” and it’s doubtful that people would spend $30 for a home rental of the new Anthony Bourdain documentary, for example. But the numbers illustrate the changing face of the movie business at the very top of the totem pole, and Hollywood is a blockbuster-driven business. (Of the year’s top 10 theatrical grossers to date, only two — “F9” and “Peter Rabbit 2” — are not currently available for at-home viewing.)