Disney announced that the remainder of its 2021 films will have exclusive theatrical releases and will not be available on its streaming service until several weeks after their premiers.
The lineup of releases includes six films that Disney guarantees a minimum 45-day theatrical run. These movies are The Last Duel, Ron’s Gone Wrong, Marvel’s Eternals, Steven Spielberg’s West Side Story, and The King’s Man. Encanto, an animated children’s movie about a magical family with music by Lin-Manuel Miranda, will have a 30-day theater run before coming to Disney+ in time for the holidays.
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Since the COVID-19 shutdowns forced most theaters to close in 2020, production studios compensated by using at-home streaming services such as Disney+ as release venues for their movies. As the restrictions lifted, Disney experimented with simultaneous streaming and theater releases, which resulted in a $100 million lawsuit by actress Scarlett Johansson over an alleged breach of contract that would have ensured an exclusive theatrical release for her Black Widow film.
A successful Labor Day weekend that resulted in record-breaking box office revenue enticed the entertainment giant to commit to theater-only premiers for the rest of the year.
“Following the tremendous box office success of our summer films which included five of the top eight domestic releases of the year, we are excited to update our theatrical plans for the remainder of 2021,” Kareem Daniel, chairman of Disney Media and Entertainment Distribution, said in a statement.
Daniel attributed the return to theaters as improved “confidence in moviegoing” by consumers, a sentiment corroborated by revenue data from AMC Theatres, the largest theater chain in America. AMC reported more moviegoers this Labor Day weekend than in 2019 and revenues that “eclipsed” previous records set in 2013.
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“This encouraging surge in attendance at AMC signals that as Hollywood releases movies, Americans eagerly want to return to movie theatres again,” said Adam Aron, chairman and CEO of AMC Theatres. “AMC’s success this weekend was primarily driven by Marel Studio’s Shang-Chi and the Legend of the 10 Rings. We congratulate our friends and partners at Disney on their incredible theatrical success.”
