If you’ve paid attention to the box office the last couple of weeks, the number have not been good for Black Widow. After a pandemic record-breaking start, the film has had some epic drops and so far has earned “just” $314M worldwide. So the timing on this news, while maybe unconnected, is probably the right idea at the right moment.
Black Widow will hit all digital platforms on August 10th, followed by Bluray, Ultra 4K HD, and DVD on September 14th. A total of nine deleted scenes will be included. Is this Disney just giving up on the film’s theatrical run, or what? Maybe, maybe not. Disney has been moving quickly to get blockbusters out there as much as possible. Raya and the Last Dragon sat in the top 10 earners for ages, but it, like Mulan, hit all digital platforms after a month and physical media soon after.
We don’t know the numbers for Black Widow through Disney Premier Access. They might be tremendous, but as it stands the film is the second-lowest theatrical release for Marvel Studios. It makes the box office prospects of Eternals, Shang-Chi, and other Marvel films very uncertain.