A new study reveals that 40% of those who saw BlackWidow watched a pirated version of the MCU movie. That's nearly as high a percentage as those who saw it in theaters (41%) and much higher than those who paid to stream it on Disney+ (19%). Ouch.
Almost half of the people who watched Black Widow saw it by pirating the film according to a new study. Black Widow was Marvel's grand return to theaters after COVID-19 had forced the studio to delay the release of the film from May 1, 2020, to July 9, 2021. With concerns over COVID-19 still being on studios' minds, the studio opted to release Black Widow on Disney+ through their Premier Access service the same day as theaters.
The decision was a controversial one, as it resulted in star Scarlett Johansson launching a high-profile lawsuit against Disney which resulted in the two settling out of court. While Black Widow made headlines for the biggest opening weekend at the time of the pandemic, the movie had a massive 67% drop in its second weekend.
The numbers on Black Widow had already not looked good, as Disney said they estimated to have lost $600 million in piracy on the movie. With a clean version readily available the same day as theaters, a pirated copy of the film was easier to access and cheaper than the $30 dollar price tag for Premier Access.
While the 2021 box office was dominated by Marvel superhero movies, with the four MCU films and the Sony released Venom: Let There Be Carnage all being in the domestic top 10, it will be interesting to see how 2022 pans out for the studio. Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, Thor: Love and Thunder, and Black Panther: Wakanda Forever are all established franchises as opposed to Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings and Eternals, which were new introductions for audiences.
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