Disney Plus to stream Black Widow on July 9, same day as theaters – CNET [CNET]

Disney will stream Black Widow on Disney Plus with Premier Access on July 9, the company said Tuesday. Disney didn’t announce a price, but previous Premier Access has cost $30 on top of a Disney Plus subscription. 

The move showcases some of the continuing uncertainty about how Disney will approach releasing its biggest new films. Disney has racked up more top blockbusters than any other studio in the last five years before thecoronavirus pandemic decimated theater attendance. Disney has been putting some of its films on Disney Plus instead of in theaters, and it has dipped its toe into a strategy that charges Disney Plus subscribers extra to stream bigger films there at the same time as their theatrical runs.

Other Hollywood giants have leaned even harder on streaming as a pandemic strategy for movies originally developed for the big screen. In a move that shocked many and outraged some when it was announced in December, AT&T’s WarnerMedia said all new movies from its Warner Bros. studio — including Wonder Woman 1984, Dune and The Matrix 4 — would be available to stream on its own streaming service HBO Max the same day flicks hit theaters, at no added cost to subscribers. 

Until the pandemic, Disney had been loyal to the theatrical-release norms that kept movies exclusively in cinemas for 75 days or longer, helping it rack up more top box-office blockbusters in the last five years than any other studio.

But as the COVID-19 pandemic continues disrupt movie-going, Disney has been evolving Disney Plus‘ role in its movie release cycle.

At first, Disney Plus simply started streaming already-released movies months earlier than planned. Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker began streaming three months early. Before that, Disney Plus streamed animated hit Frozen 2 three months early as well, and Pixar’s Onward landed on Disney Plus just weeks after it premiered in theaters. Then Disney started ratcheting up the streaming releases of new movies too, like the film version of award-winning musical Hamilton in July and Pixar‘s latest animated film, Soul, on Dec. 25. 

But the biggest change was Disney’s release of its live-action remake of Mulan in September. The mega-budget film was released on Disney Plus as a $30 add-on to the service’s regular subscription price, essentially skipping most theaters. It was a move that that would’ve been unthinkable six months earlier, but Disney revived a similar plan for Raya and the Last Dragon, which was released in theaters and on the streaming service for $30 on March 4.