Marvel movie “Black Widow” collected $60 million on its debut weekend on the Walt Disney Co’s (NYSE: DIS) subscription video-on-demand service Disney+.
What Happened: Black Widow made a debut of sorts as it became the first Marvel movie to be made available online via Disney+ on the same day that it hit the theatres on Friday.
Global Black Widow box office sales were $158 million, which comprises both domestic and international ticket sales.
CNBC, citing Comscore, noted that the total domestic box office collection has crossed $100 million for the first time since March 2020.
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Why It Matters: The strategy is a hit for Disney+ as about 40% of the total Black Widow revenue for the weekend came from the streaming giant that is making efforts to compete with rivals such as Netflix Inc (NASDAQ: NFLX), Amazon.com Inc (NASDAQ: AMZN)’s Prime, Apple Inc (NASDAQ: AAPL) and others.
“Imagine being a theater owner and realizing studios need you less and less everyday. Leverage is shifting rapidly in the streaming era toward the studios,” LightShed analyst Rich Greenfieldwrote on Twitter.
“The 50/50 split that has gone to 60/40 for Disney blockbusters should probably go to 70/30 if not more industry-wide.”
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Price Action: Walt Disney shares closed 2.45% higher at $177.04 on Friday.
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Photo: Courtesy of Disney
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