The back half of 2021 is chock-full of movie releases that have been getting pushed back for over a year at this point. Recently, Disney once again moved the debut date of their upcoming Marvel Studios film Black Widow, this time to July. However, the situation is a little different this time around. Rather than stick with a straight theatrical release, Disney has announced that it will be simultaneously putting the movie up for purchase through their Disney Plus Premier Access subscription. This means that even if theaters were still unsafe for most come July of this year (which, given the current vaccination rate, will hopefully not hold true), the studio could release the movie digitally and finally start profiting off of it. In short, this confirms that there will be no more delays for Black Widow or any other big studio movies revealed to have these joint-theatrical/streaming releases. It is a long-overdue promise of a release date and one that serves as a representation of cinema’s big return come the summer and fall of 2021.
At least, it will if movies actually continue to release in theaters.
The nature of the Hollywood system and the way that films are being delivered to audiences is something that has been dramatically shaken and altered by the Covid-19 pandemic, and something that I have discussed a lot through this column. With more and more movies and tv shows dropping on streaming services, entertainment is more accessible to people – from the kids at our high school to watchers around the world – than it ever has been before. But in studios prioritizing the greenlighting and delivery of this ‘content’ (particularly franchise properties like Marvel or Star Wars) to audiences, the future of films on the big screen may be in jeopardy.
Something I explored in a previous article was a debacle early last year where, at the start of the pandemic, Universal Pictures breached the previously-sacred theatrical release window with movie theaters to make one of their films (Trolls World Tour) available to buy digitally. With theaters closing down, this was the only viable option for the studio to make some money off the movie they had invested in. However, it breached a previously-held standard that cinemas would be allowed to show a film for ninety days before studios could sell it on digital platforms. Even now that the entertainment business is returning to some form of normalcy, that rule has been altered still. Paramount Pictures recently reached a deal with major theater chains to debut their movies in theaters for forty-five days before dropping themit on their own streaming service, Paramount Plus (because of course there is a Paramount Plus). This is half of what the previously-established theatrical release window was, and it may just keep on shrinking.
With films having taken a year off from theaters, television making a resurgence in streaming form, and the lines between it all blurring beyond recognition, the entertainment stage is sure to continue undergoing dramatic changes even as business begins to boom once more. This month, the 93rd Academy Awards will be held, and it is sure to be a very different show than normal. Several of the typical rules surrounding the consideration of digitally-released content have had to change in the wake of the pandemic, given the lack of theatrically-released movies to speak of. It will be very representative of how the film industry’s value of streaming entertainment continues to evolve.
Few things are rarely certain, and the next decade is sure to bring a lot of societal change in the wake of what we have all experienced over the past year. At the end of the day, though, if you find yourself wanting to see a movie this summer, I implore you to support its release. Whether that is through a service like HBO Max, AMC, or even a local theater that needs the extra boost, I think it is important that we all do our part to support this industry in whatever way is the safest. Despite all the challenges of 2020 and the ones still yet to come, there is always creativity and value in entertainment, no matter what forms it may take in the future. It is imperative that we never lose sight of the artistic value here.