It looks like Black Widow's underperformance at the box office has resulted in Disney making some big changes to its current dual-release strategy.
A recut version of the Eternals trailer (there's no new footage) aired during Monday night’s Tokyo Summer Olympics, and it confirms that the Phase 4 adventure is set to debut “Only in Theaters November 5.” Nerdist has managed to confirm this, and the site has learned that Free Guy will also be a theatrical exclusive.
This is pretty big news, as it obviously suggests that Disney has moved on from its simultaneous theatrical and Disney+ Premiere Access model and will be sending all of its major features directly to cinemas moving forward.
Theaters are open again and vaccines are rolling out, but with many people still hesitant to return thanks to the Delta Variant, it's going to be a while before these blockbusters are able to rake in even a fraction of what they did pre-pandemic.
It remains to be seen if this strategy will pay off, but Free Guy is set for release next week, so we should find out soon enough.