GeekTyrant reports our corporate overlords at Disney will release Shang-Chi and Free Guy exclusively in movie theatres for 45 days. Only then will these titles become available on digital platforms and VOD. This is in sharp contrast with movies like Black Widow, Cruella, and Jungle Cruise that will all premiere at cinemas and on Disney Plus at the same time.
According to the latest release schedule, Cruella will arrive on May 26, 2021. Black Widow comes out on July 9, followed by Jungle Cruise on July 29. Free guy will arrive in cinemas on August 13, while Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings will premiere on September 3, 2021. Executives at Disney are clearly hoping the pandemic will subside by mid-August thanks to the widespread vaccination, which would lead to the re-opening of movie theaters.
But another interesting bit of this news is the new theatrical release window – 45 days. Long ago, in the bye-bye days before COVID-19, movie theaters could and would insist on an exclusivity window lasting for up to ten weeks. But after the pandemic struck, cinemas found themselves on the edge of bankruptcy due to lockdowns. Studios like Universal began squeezing them for better distribution deals. Compared to Universal’s 17 days exclusivity deal with AMC and Cinemark, Disney’s 45 days seems positively magnanimous.
