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Edited by Mrph1 on Jul 29th 2024 at 3:09:00 PM
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Ummmm....they already did push it back anyway. Disney's strangling its profitable studio division for the sake of an industry that has traditionally lost money.
And before you say "But Netflix was cash flow positive in 2020!", there was a pandemic shutdown that shuttered production everywhere. They didn't have anything to spend the money on.
Edited by Mario1995 on Mar 23rd 2021 at 5:45:15 AM
"The devil's got all the good gear. What's God got? The Inspiral Carpets and nuns. Fuck that." - Liam Gallagher![]()
No, they have to strike a balance. The past year has shown that no matter how clean theaters claim themselves to be the public is not turning out for them (ain't that right Nolan?). The film is only collecting dust and interest in it will wane more the longer they push it back — Natasha has been dead for almost 2 IRL years now, so her character does not have the momentum it did in 2019. Hybrid release is really the best option for this one.
Edited by Synchronicity on Mar 23rd 2021 at 4:52:59 AM
I have seen zero peer-reviewed/analytical evidence that momentum for BW has died down. (Do not cite social media as evidence; that's like citing Wikipedia for a school/college project, it's not reliable).
Also, none of this will matter if Feige or other Marvel creatives quit in protest.
Edited by Mario1995 on Mar 23rd 2021 at 5:57:44 AM
"The devil's got all the good gear. What's God got? The Inspiral Carpets and nuns. Fuck that." - Liam GallagherOne has to remember that the Hollywood industry (and that includes Disney) underestimated the full impact of the COVID-19. They thought it would just go away in the summer, just a few month delay. And thus releasing films in theaters and streaming would be jumping the gun, a quick cash grab decision...
Until it became clear that this pandemic was going much longer than expected and is not shrinking any time soon. A pandemic that lasted more than a year. A year loss of potential profits for theaters. And with the success of Wonder Woman 1984 in theaters and streaming, suddenly the idea of simultaneous release spearheaded by Warner Bros doesn't sound as bad for the executives.
"Success"
WW84 lost WB $100 million at the box office. HBO Max is stuck at 17 million subs (not 37 million, that includes standard HBO subs). Subscriber gains are negligent and the ad-supported tier, with it not including the same day movies, is unlikely to boost numbers. The day to date strategy is not working and is costing WB even more money than if they just delayed everything.
See what happened to DirecTV? WarnerMedia is likely next and Disney may end up being forced to do something similar to its studios if they aren't careful.
Edited by Mario1995 on Mar 23rd 2021 at 6:33:51 AM
"The devil's got all the good gear. What's God got? The Inspiral Carpets and nuns. Fuck that." - Liam Gallagher
It's not the same strategy. At all. Stop comparing Disney to that trash phone company.
Disney's making people pay for tentpoles on top of Disney+ subscriptions, HBO Max isn't. And Disney movies dated for September onwards are still sticking to theaters only and likely will as vaccines are ending the pandemic.
As for Luca, Disney probably saw more merchandise value for that over theatrical.
Also, there hasn't been layoffs at Disney Studios on the scale of WB (at least not yet), because Disney actually wants to make money while AT&T views WM like a Chinese sweatshop or corporate-controlled farm for their shit platforms and nothing more.
Edited by Mario1995 on Mar 23rd 2021 at 6:43:47 AM
"The devil's got all the good gear. What's God got? The Inspiral Carpets and nuns. Fuck that." - Liam Gallagher
Again, they aren't doing it for the whole slate like WB is. And they're still charging people for it.
Also, this pandemic will likely be in the rearview mirror in the US by late summer-early fall.
"The devil's got all the good gear. What's God got? The Inspiral Carpets and nuns. Fuck that." - Liam GallagherGot to be honest, I find the idea that Kevin Feige would quit in protest over the release of one movie under atypical circumstances to be bizarre.
Sure we know he didn't want to do a simultaneous theatre/digital release, which is almost certainly why it wasn't made official until now. But there's a massive difference between "not wanting a thing to happen" and "willing to quit over a thing happening". The only time he came close to quitting in protest was due to putting up with the overbearing penny-pinching leadership of Pearlmutter for close to a decade.
Heck, there's a decent chance that the main reason it's happening now is that he was convinced to make an exception in this case.
I feel bad for this film. It was supposed to be the long awaited solo film for one of franchises longest running characters and seemed to be 1 billion easy. Only for that to not be possible at this point.
"That's right mortal. By channeling my divine rage into power, I have forged a new instrument in which to destroy you."
x3 I think I said this in the COVID thread but remember that "pandemic in the rearview mirror by f/w 2021" is a first world dream. Vaccine inequality is real and global box office is also a thing they have their eye on.
I just don't understand why you're so adamant that the hybrid release is the worst thing ever? It sucks but it's a compromise and not exclusive to Disney — hell, a significant portion of the Oscar slate this year is PVOD. Not everybody can go to theaters as vaccination rates rise.
Edited by Synchronicity on Mar 23rd 2021 at 6:12:44 AM
Alrighty, so less than happy about the idea for a number of reasons:
- $30 is way too much on top of a subscription service. I know it's intended with families and other people in mind, but the blu-ray would only be $25, and then I'd actually own the movie.
- It's a really shitty thing to do to Black Widow specifically given the long and difficult road to get this character her own movie at all.
- It honestly makes all the constant pushbacks feel pointless to ultimately do it now (when apparently they're confident enough that pushing Shang-Chi back to September is sufficient). I don't buy the "there's something big in the movie that future installments will spoil" because, like, say Yelena's in Hawkeye (I THINK that was confirmed?). Who cares? This is already an interquel starring a character who we know dies a few years later, I don't think it's going to have the big impact the studio seems to think it's going to have.
All told, really hoping I get the vaccine beforehand so I can see this in theaters guilt-free, because I'm certainly not paying for premiere access.
Edited by Khfan429 on Mar 23rd 2021 at 4:25:00 AM
The only saving grace of this is that it will most likely perform better than WW84 given that it won't be obtainable for free in any legal circumstance.
"The devil's got all the good gear. What's God got? The Inspiral Carpets and nuns. Fuck that." - Liam GallagherFeige is producing or E Ping over ten projects for the MCU at the moment, slated for release between now and the end of 2022.
I can't imaging him quitting or being fired until at least the end of next year unless something truly awful happens, like with Snyder on Justice League.

I think they will. Pretty sure my usual geek pals will go into the theaters if we are able to get our pokes in time. If not pretty sure the group of us can get 30 bucks between the 5 of us with two D+ accts among them
Feige may have had to toss in the towel on this, he was against it but the movie has been delayed a year already they can't keep pushing it back. I only hope they are making sure the talent still gets paid
Edited by ShadowWingLG on Mar 23rd 2021 at 2:58:14 PM