Like most of Marvel Studios' Phase 4 movies, Black Widow has been hit with multiple release date delays. Now, it's been slotted in for a July debut which will see it premiere on Disney+ and in theaters at the same time (something that could become the norm, if not forever, then certainly for the foreseeable future).
Black Widow was supposed to be released next month, and Observer reveals that had that happened, it was likely to earn around $45 million at the North American box office.
Now, though, the movie stands to make around $170 million!
Jeff Bock, Senior Box Office Analyst at Exhibitor Relations, told the site that rather than hurting Black Widow, this final (?) release date delay will actually help it.
"As far as Marvel goes and other films that have pushed further back into summer, that can only help their cause at this point, as the science of things points to the film industry getting more resilient across the board. That’s excellent news for blockbusters, considering budgets usually balloon upwards of $200M these days."
Under normal circumstances, Black Widow stood a chance of earning hundreds of millions of dollars in the U.S. and enough overseas to hit the $1 billion mark. However, Marvel Studios and Disney are having to make the best of a bad situation; earning back Black Widow's budget and driving more subscribers to Disney+ certainly isn't the worst decision.
We'll have to wait and see how things play out, but the future looks slightly brighter for the MCU's box office prospects.
How will you be choosing to watch Black Widow this July?
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