Theatre Owners Blame Disney For Black Widow’s “Collapse” In Second Week

On Sunday, theatre owners blasted Walt Disney Co. for the current status of Black Widow. In the Box Office, the Black Widow collapse marks a downfall that the film is currently experiencing at No. 2. NATO blamed Disney largely for making the film available simultaneously both on the streaming Disney platform as well as on the big screen.

The National Association of Theatre Owners stated that Disney’s decision to make the Scarlett Johansson film available on their streaming platform has made it suffer a “stunning collapse in its second weekend in theatrical revenues.” NATO strongly condemned them and said this has undercut the film’s potential in the Box Office rankings.

Black Widow Collapse?

A press release from the National Association of Theater Owners was on to the point when it came to Black Widow. After enjoying its success along with critical acclaim, Black Widow has suddenly dropped an unprecedented 41 percent from Friday to Saturday during July 9 to 11.

As a result, Black Widow fell to No. 2 in its second week with $26.3 million for the July 16 to 18 weekend. In total, it was estimated that the standalone Natasha Romanoff film suffered a steep 67 percent decline.

This is also noted as one of the biggest drops ever for a Marvel film. Additionally, the decrease also results in being the worst among the Marvel Cinematic Universe films released by Disney.

NATO’s Statements On The Film

While many other films have also suffered many decreases and declines owing to the pandemic, NATO strongly blamed this on Disney’s misconduct. They added that making the film available too soon on their streaming platform was the primary reason responsible for this Black Widow collapse. They said that this decreased its potential and promoted piracy.

In the statement, NATO said: “Despite assertions that this pandemic-era improvised release strategy was a success for Disney and the simultaneous release model, it demonstrates that an exclusive theatrical release means more revenue for all stakeholders in every cycle of the movie’s life.”

Must Read: Is Florence Pugh Overshadowing ScarJo In Black Widow? Some Critics Think So

They also said, “The most important answer is that simultaneous release is a pandemic-era artifact that should be left to history with the pandemic itself.” At the moment, Disney has refused to comment on NATO’s statements.