Disney reveals Black Widow made $60 million on streaming platform Disney+ propelling the film to a pandemic-era opening weekend record
Disney's new superhero film Black Widow took in $60 million on the streaming platform Disney+, the company announced in its first breakdown of steaming figures for a movie.
The movie set a pandemic-era record bringing in $218 million worldwide over the three-day weekend, including the streaming figures, $80 million domestic box office and $78 million internationally.
The movie, starring Scarlett Johansson as the cat-suited superspy, was available online to Disney+ subscribers for an extra fee of $29.99.
Hollywood Reporter called it 'unprecedented' for a studio to announce its streaming total on a film's opening weekend. The film has yet to open in China.
Black Widow, starring Scarlett Johansson as the cat-suited superspy, was available online to Disney+ subscribers for an extra fee of $29.99.
Chairman of Disney Studios Content Alan Bergman, President of Marketing at Disney Studios Content Asad Ayaz, Producer, President of Marvel Studios and Chief Creative Officer of Marvel Kevin Feige, and Disney CEO Bob Chapek attend the Black Widow premier
The studio said it's the largest domestic opening weekend since Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker debuted in 2019, pre-pandemic.
Disney CEO Bob Chapek is seen above
It's a massive win for coronavirus-era moviegoing. In North America, the previous pandemic recordholder was Universal's F9, which debuted to $70 million a few weeks ago.
But unlike Black Widow, which is playing on 4,100 screens, the ninth 'Fast & Furious' movie was exclusively in theaters.
'This was a pretty monumental weekend for the industry,' said Paul Dergarabedian, Comscore's senior media analyst.
'Black Widow played well on big screens and small screens. And it actually strengthens the case for movie theaters.'
Dergarabedian noted that the vast majority of profits, $158.8 million, came from theaters. Around $12 million of that came from IMAX screens too.
'Hollywood blockbusters continue to gain ground at the box office with each successive release, and that bodes very well for the many films lined up for exclusive worldwide theatrical release this fall and beyond,' said Rich Gelfond the CEO of IMAX.
The movie set a pandemic-era record bringing in $218 million worldwide over the three-day weekend, including $80 million domestic box office and $78 million internationally
This image released by Marvel Studios shows Scarlett Johansson in a scene from Black Widow
Far behind Black Widow in second place for the weekend was Universal's action thriller 'F9: The Fast Saga,' at $10.9 million, down by more than half from last weekend's take.
Vin Diesel, Michelle Rodriguez and John Cena star in this ninth installment in the 'Fast and Furious' franchise.
Universal also claimed the next two box-office spots.
In third was its animated sequel 'The Boss Baby: Family Business,' at $8.7 million. The yarn about a cannily can-do 'boss baby' features the voices of Alec Baldwin, Eva Longoria, Jeff Goldblum and Lisa Kudrow.
Horror film 'The Forever Purge' placed fourth, at $6.7 million. This latest in the 'Purge' series is again set in a dystopian near-future where all crime, even murder, is made legal one day a year. Ana de la Reguera and Tenoch Huerta star.
And in fifth was Paramount's 'A Quiet Place: Part II,' at $3 million, pushing its domestic total near $150 million in its seventh week. John Krasinski directed the horror flic; his wife Emily Blunt stars.
This weekend marked the first time since Covid-19 struck that the domestic box office has surpassed $100 million. It hit $116.8 million, 20 percent higher than last weekend.