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Image credits: Left: Free Guy (Alan Markfield/20th Century Studios), Right: Shang Chi (Jasin Boland/Marvel Studios)
It’s been a rough year-and-change for the theatrical window, that quasi-mystical arrangement between studios and theaters, designed to keep home video from (hypothetically) totally crushing the going-out-and-watching-movies business. Throughout the COVID-19 crisis, Disney has tried to walk a middle line on the issue of film releases in a world where there’s nowhere for films to release: Not quite the “delay everything except a handful of VOD releases” approach favored by Universal, but also not the “Fuck it, everything streams for free” approach utilized by Warner Bros. and HBO Max. Instead, Disney has gone the compromise route, dropping films like
A still from ‘Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings’
The announcement came hours after studio announced that Dwayne Johnson’s ‘Jungle Cruise’ will debut in theatres and on Disney Plus on the same day
Disney CEO Bob Chapek has announced that the studio’s two upcoming titles superhero movie “Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings” and Ryan Reynolds’ “Free Guy” will be released exclusively in theatres.
During an earnings call on Thursday, Chapek said both films will have a 45-day exclusive run in cinemas after which they will become available on video-on-demand and streaming.
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Melinda Sue Gordon/Netflix
You’d be forgiven for wondering if
The Woman in the Window is just trolling you in its earliest moments, when a voice on the other end of a phone conversation coaxes Anna (Amy Adams) paternalistically. “Why not make today the day that you go outside?” the voice suggests. Oof.
Anna has developed anxiety and agoraphobia due to trauma, the details of which unfurl later in the film but have nothing to do with viruses stalking her west Harlem neighborhood and the rest of the world. Some day we’ll hear lines like this and not immediately sigh with recognition, but for now, they hit a little close to home.
Regal Owner Cineworld and Disney Reach Theatrical Window Deal
The world’s second largest distributor previously inked deals with Warner Bros. and this week Universal
Brian Welk | May 14, 2021 @ 9:10 AM
Getty Images
After just this week closing a deal with Universal on shorter theatrical windows, Regal Cinema owner Cineworld has now reached an agreement with The Walt Disney Company to show the studio’s movies in the U.S. and the U.K., an individual with knowledge of the deal told TheWrap.
The deal will include the upcoming films that Disney plans to release day-and-date in theaters and through Premier Access on Disney+, including the upcoming “Cruella,” “Black Widow” and “Jungle Cruise.” But it also includes the films that Disney on Thursday’s earnings call confirmed will receive a 45-day theatrical exclusive window, those being “Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings” and the 20th Century Studios title “Free Guy.” Both of those films arrive in the l
Entertainment
Sat, May 15, 2021
Disney announced it would give two upcoming titles superhero movie Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings and Ryan Reynolds’ comedy film Free Guy - to an exclusive theatrical release. Both films will have a 45-day exclusive run in cinemas after which they will be made available on video-on-demand and streaming, said Disney CEO Bob Chapek during an earnings call.
American actor Ryan Reynolds-starrer Free Guy, produced by Disney-owned 20th Century Studios, will be released to the theatres in the US on August 13, while the Simu Liu-starrer Shang-Chi will have a theatrical release on September 3.
The Disney company is witnessing the “recent signs of increased confidence” among cinema-goers for the movie-going experience, Variety quoted Bob Chapek as saying.