Owing to the uncertainties
wrought by the ongoing COVID pandemic, a number of major production studios
with affiliated streaming services have been experimenting this year with
simultaneous releases of new films in both cinemas and streamers at the same day.
The earnings of such a premiere style have been good, even if the streaming
take is being accused of eating up more money that should be coming from the
box office. Despite opposition even from some of their own stars, Disney has
rolled out their movies to synched theatrical-streaming dates. “Jungle Cruise” is
the media giant’s latest offering, with near-equal local box-office and Disney+
earnings.
CNBC tells us that Disney’s “Jungle Cruise,” their newest cinematic
adaptation of a traditional Disneyland theme park ride attraction, has coasted
to a comfortable opening weekend following its July 30 premiere on theaters and
Disney+ Premier Access. As July turned into August, the film brought in $34.2
million from its US box office release, a further $27.6 million in
international ticket sales, and a telling $30 million more from Premier Access,
where the movie can be streamed on Disney+ for a $30 fee. These numbers are in
keeping with the figures from previous blockbuster releases this past July,
from Marvel’s “Black Widow” to “Space Jam: A New Legacy” from Warner.
Of course, considering that it
took some $200 million to produce “Jungle Cruise” to start, such returns from
tickets and streaming fees combined are a pale shadow to what numbers it could
have drawn way back in 2019, the last year without a pandemic hanging over
everyone’s heads. Granted, with vaccination still ongoing stateside, about 85%
of North American cinemas have been operational as of this film’s release,
cautious moviegoers still prefer to avoid theaters and go for the home
streaming option.
This is much to the chagrin on
the National Association of Theater Owners, who blames Disney for their loss of
revenue when “Black Widow” tanked its box office beginning on the second week
as more preferred the Disney+ Premier Access option. The “Black Widow” star
Scarlett Johansson had also filed lawsuit against Disney for alleged contract
violations, concerning a supposed exclusive cinema-first premiere for the
movie, something the studio has dismissed as callous where the pandemic is
concerned.
“Jungle Cruise” stars Dwayne
Johnson, Emily Blunt, Jack Whitehall, Edgar Ramirez and Jesse Plemons. It
features an adventure up the Amazon River of South America as a British medical
expedition take a ride aboard a riverboat captained by a scam-running skipper
in search of a mystical tree with flowers that are a natural panacea, while
evading the dangerous wildlife, Amazon tribesmen, a rival German expedition and
some cursed Spanish conquistadores.
Image courtesy of Variety
0 comments:
Post a Comment