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Disney to release films in cinemas first for the rest of the year

Most major releases in the past 18 months have premiered on streaming services due to the closure of cinemas during the pandemic.

DISNEY HAS ANNOUNCED that that all of its films scheduled for release by the end of this year will be exclusively screened in cinemas at first, after the Covid-19 pandemic forced many new films to premier on streaming services instead.

The animated film “Encanto” will be released on the big screen on 24 November and will not appear on Disney’s on-demand video platform until 24 December, the company said in a statement.

Other planned projects, including Ridley Scott’s The Last Duel, Eternals from Marvel Studios and the remake of West Side Story, directed by Steven Spielberg, will be screened in cinemas for at least 45 days before they are released elsewhere.

The decision will be welcomed by traditional cinemas after the entertainment giant recently chose to release a series of big productions such as Black Widow, Jungle Cruise and Cruella on its Disney+ platform, diverting part of their revenue.

Black Widow actor Scarlett Johansson has sued Disney, accusing the company of breach of contract and costing her millions of dollars in box office revenue after it released the film on its video platform.

Two years ago, Disney was producing content for both cinemas and television channels, but it now has direct access to its audience via streaming, a trend accelerated by the pandemic.

In mid-August, Disney boss Bob Chapek said he favoured “flexibility” and the ability to “follow the consumer wherever he goes”.

During a presentation of the company’s financial results, he said “when theatres reopened, there was immense reluctance from the public to return”.

Warner Bros. studios has also been criticised for its decision to release all of its new movies for the rest of the year on its HBO Max platform.

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    Mute Paul Cunningham
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    Sep 11th 2021, 3:17 PM

    Wouldn’t mind seeing Raya and the Last Dragon and other films released on streaming earlier in the year rereleased in cinemas here. Watching such a colourful film on a laptop screen really didn’t do the visuals justice.

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    Mute Gabriel Holmes
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    Sep 11th 2021, 4:14 PM

    @Paul Cunningham: Try a big screen TV

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    Mute Ixtrix Net
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    Sep 11th 2021, 2:38 PM

    Not a nice move, albeit somewhat forced, by Disney with Scarlett over that contract, but would have to wonder at who she pays to draw up her contracts worth.

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    Mute Sarah-J. Mc Hugh
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    Sep 11th 2021, 3:04 PM

    @Ixtrix Net: Her contract was agreed in 2017 before the steaming service or the pandemic. In 2019 when streaming was launched she allegedly got confirmation it wouldn’t affect her contractual agreement to a theatrical release, and has supposedly tried to engaged more recently to discuss renegotiation, if they were intending to change the plan. She’s obviously suing because her lawyers have a contract they feel is defendable. There is a bit of handbags going on, some attempts to swerve binding arbitration etc. so we will have to see exactly where things fall…

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    Mute Gerard
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    Sep 11th 2021, 5:53 PM

    @Ixtrix Net: didn’t understand all of this but streaming releases will not only hit cinemas, but budgets too. Studios budget films assuming multiple revenue streams.

    The ones we saw this and last year were exceptional because they were made (and budgeted) before the pandemic assuming they’d have all the normal revenue streams. The studios couldn’t accumulate releases forever so had to cut their losses at some point. Disney in particular because they could write it off as advertising for Disney+.

    But they can’t do that forever with the kinds of budgets that Marvel and Pixar films have.

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    Mute Conrad Shields
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    Sep 11th 2021, 7:06 PM

    @Gerard: Actually, streaming revenue is far more valuable. I believe Black Widow had a $20m opening weekend, but made $60m from streaming. But Disney don’t get $20m from the box office, the cinemas and others have to get their cut, whereas every penny from streaming goes straight into their pocket.

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    Mute martin
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    Sep 11th 2021, 9:27 PM

    AMC to the moon

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