Will Movie Theaters Choose Not to Play ‘Black Widow’? Here’s What We Know.

We’re excited for Black Widow to make its debut this summer as Natasha Romanoff makes her return.

Black Widow @Marvel

But, the film is already stirring up a bit of disagreements over its unconventional Marvel release.

The Wall Street Journal has reported that theater owners are upset over Disney’s decision to debut Black Widow simultaneously in theaters and on Disney+. Along with this revelation, Disney has pushed Black Widow‘s debut until July 9th. Now theater owners are looking for ways to push back against this decision, possibly even threatening not to play the fiilm.

©Disney/Marvel

AMC Chief Executive Adam Aron referenced Black Widow, saying, “We haven’t made any threats” at this point but “it is widely known that AMC has threatened not to play movies if we could not find business terms that we found acceptable.” Many theaters are concerned with the fact that their ability to draw moviegoers back into theaters have been impaired with the double feature on streaming services and on the big screen.

©Disney/Marvel

Disney, though, has stated that this gives their customers more options that reflect their preferences. Yet, theaters already have debated this by choosing not to play Disney movies like Raya and the Last Dragon most recently. Disney looked for a 53% revenue split when Raya and the Last Dragon first made its debut. Moving forward with Black Widow and other Disney films (like Cruella coming soon), though, this could be a bigger issue between film studios and theaters.

©Disney/Marvel

While the pandemic has majorly affected movie theaters, they have depended on the money that Disney brings into cinemas. Regardless of almost evenly sharing the revenue of movies ticket sales, theaters are aware that Disney gets to entirely keep the money they make off streaming services. So, it’s almost like they’re making less with the 50-50 ratio.

©Disney/Marvel

According to the Wall Street Journal, Byron Berkley, president of the Independent Cinema Alliance, has stated that “We feel what they’ve done was a contradiction of their previously expressed belief in the importance of the theatrical experience and suggests to us that they are an unreliable partner of exhibition.” Theaters haven’t fully stated that they will choose not to show Black Widow, but we’ll be sure to update you on everything you need to know!

Black Widow ©Disney

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Rachel Franko has been going to Disney Parks since she was a baby, and her love of Disney has only grown into a SLIGHT obsession since! She's been writing for AllEars since 2019 and loves sharing the magic with all the readers. When she's not writing, you can catch her heading to Disney and Universal Studios with a heart full of dreams and a backpack full of themed ears!

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