'Black Widow' Likely To Be Delayed By Disney, While Pixar's 'Soul' May Be Released On Disney+
Black Widow may have to go into hiding for a few more months. The long-awaited Black Widow movie may be delayed once again as Disney considers reshuffling its film slate in the wake of disappointing Mulan box office numbers. That reshuffling may also push the anticipated Pixar film Soul to Disney+, where Disney has found success with its animated films amid the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.Variety reports that Disney will likely delay the Black Widow release date once again, bumping the Marvel Studios film from its current November 6 release date. It will be just the latest delay for Black Widow due to the ongoing pandemic, which pushed the Scarlett Johansson comic book movie back from its initial May release date. It's unknown when the new Black Widow release date would be.
The studio is also reportedly "exploring" releasing Pixar's Soul straight to Disney+, which the House of Mouse has done for several films this year like Artemis Fowl and Mulan, the latter for a premium price. But while the former (and now the latter) were dropped on the streaming platforms to avoid a box office bomb, the release of Soul on Disney+ will likely see more success along the lines of previous animated films released early to the service, like Pixar's Onward and Disney's Frozen II. Kids, after all, are mostly stuck at home. But it would be unfortunate that first major Black-led Pixar film starring a Black actor (Jamie Foxx) would be dropped straight to streaming without a chance at theaters (the same can be said of throwing the Asian-led Mulan to the dogs while Disney saves Black Widow for a later theatrical date).
Disney has released no comment on this report, but the Variety notes that the impending Black Widow delay comes days after Warner Bros. pushed Wonder Woman 1984 from its early October release to late December, while STX also moved the Gerard Butler thriller Greenland out of September, and Universal pushed Candyman into 2021. Right now, No Time to Die is the only major release left in November, and MGM could very well vacate that spot soon.
And of course, there's the middling box office performance of Tenet, which Warner Bros., Christopher Nolan, and industry experts hoped would revive theaters — 30% of which remain closed in the U.S., mostly in major markets like New York and California. Theaters aren't going back to normal any time soon while the pandemic still rages on in the U.S., and studios are going to have to accept that fact.
It's uncertain what the delay of Black Widow would mean for the future Marvel slate, which includes The Eternals, Shang-Chi and the Legend of the 10 Rings, and Thor: Love and Thunder.