Theory: Disney Considering Delaying Black Widow Or Preparing It For Disney Plus PVOD Release

Donald Edmonds |

Sep 18, 2020

A new theory claims that Disney is either considering delaying Black Widow or preparing it for release on Disney Plus as PVOD following the alleged success of Mulan.

The two possible theories are posited by Charles Murphy at Murphy’s Multiverse based on the fact that the Disney UK and the Disney France websites removed Black Widow’s release date from their pages for the film and also updated the posters that no longer state when the film is expected to be released.

Both websites do not feature release dates, but simply state “Coming Soon.”

They both also show the main poster for the film that does not have a release date on it.

Murphy’s first theory claims this could mean the film could be coming to Disney Plus.

He explains, “Much like what’s happening with Black Widow and Soul, the release date for Mulan was taken down from official Disney websites and replaced with “COMING SOON” just ahead of the official announcement that it would be premiering on Disney Plus.”

In his other theory he posits that the film’s theatrical release could be delayed and he cites a rumor from Deadline‘s Anthony D’Alessandro. Alessandro wrote earlier this month, “Exhibition sources tell us that Disney is pondering a theatrical release date move for Black Widow off its Nov. 6 date.”

He did add, “There’s no concrete idea of where it goes, whether its somewhere in December or next year yet. It could easily move to Marvel’s The Eternals release date of Feb. 12 next year.”

The Black Widow pages appeared to be updated at the beginning of September.

However, before the update, archive links reveal there was also no release date featured on the pages or the “Coming Soon” text.

Instead the pages featured a separate Black Widow poster and like the new one, it too didn’t feature a release date either.

On top of that, Disney’s US website still shows the release date for Black Widow is November 6th. It also features the poster showing the release date is November 6th.

The Canary in the Covid Coal Mine

One factor that could determine whether or not Disney decides to push Black Widow to Disney Plus PVOD is a recent article from Yahoo that cites analytics research firm 7ParkData that claims “nearly 29% of U.S. households that subscribe to Disney+ purchased the $30 “Mulan” film through September 12th — far surpassing other popular (and free) titles on the platform.”

They go on to speculate that 9 million users purchased the film leading to net profits of “$261 million for U.S. markets alone.”

On top of this data from 7ParkData, Yahoo also cited research firm Sensor Tower who told them “that downloads of Disney+ spiked 68% from Friday, September 4 through Sunday, September 6, compared to one weekend prior.”

They also noted that “consumer spending in the app also spiked 193%.” Sensor Tower alleges that spike comes from Mulan’s one-time $30 access fee.

Speaking at a Citi 2020 Global Technology Conference, Disney CFO Christine McCarthy, was quoted as saying she was very pleased with the results of this release strategy for Mulan. At the time of writing, data extrapolated from SambaTV showed Mulan garnered around $33 million. That was based on their data provided from users who opted to share their streaming activity with the platform.

What do you think about Murphy’s Multiverse’s assessment of Black Widow’s release date? Sound off in the comments below or let’s talk about it on social media!