The release of Black Widow, the first Marvel movie for more than two decades, was a little disappointing. It seems like yesterday that we were watching other Disney properties commend Marvel for its success. You did a great job making money, as the posts suggested.AdvertisementAfter much discussion about why Black Widow didn't become the biggest box office hit of the pandemic and why, Rich Gelfond, CEO of IMAX, blamed Disneys model for its release. Instead of releasing Black Widow at theaters and letting it run for a few weeks before dumping it on Disney+, Disney simultaneously dumped the film in both theaters and on Disney+. They were hoping for a boffo B.O. but what they got was piracy and lower than expected grosses (though $300 million seems like a good consolation prize).According to Deadline, Gelfond said that Disney blew it by trying new things (and we mean that it only made $316million in less than one month). Gelfond stated that every studio has seen the exact same data as Disney. They did not experiment with the pandemic as they claimed they would.It is clear to me that the combination PVOD and piracy has had a significant impact on the box office.Maybe if Ray Winstone were a cannibal in Black Widow, the numbers would be higher. Black Widow won't make as much money as F9: The Fast Saga. F9's John Cena uses a very long zipline.Although it is difficult to quantify, some statistics that I find interesting are that F9, the traditional distribution model, will gross approximately $700 million globally at the end of its run. Black Widow will earn half that amount, according Gelfond. Black Widow was a wonderful movie. It is clear that there was a lot of money left over.Gelfond said, "They used to sell the same property five more times. Now they're only selling it once."AdvertisementYoull get em next time Disney. Perhaps James Cameron could post a photo of Jake Sully in Avatar wrapping their arms around Iron Man, or something to cheer us up.
