Walt Disney Co is showing its confidence that cinemas will recover from their pandemic doldrums, releasing its remaining 2021 exclusively in theatres.
Disney will release Eternals, West Side Story and the rest of its 2021 films exclusively in cinemas before sending them to streaming, a show of confidence that moviegoing will rebound.
The company had experimented during the pandemic with debuting some movies on the Disney+ streaming service at the same time they ran in theatres.
North American cinema operators have been closely watching how Walt Disney Co, which has dominated movie box offices in recent years, would handle its upcoming slate as the Delta variant slowed audiences’ return to multiplexes.
Disney says animated musical Encanto will play in theatres for 30 days starting November 24 and head to Disney+ just before Christmas.
The film tells the story of a family who live in a magical house in the mountains of Colombia.Â
All other Disney releases, including Marvel movie Eternals in November and Steven Spielberg’s revival of West Side Story in December, will play exclusively in cinemas for at least 45 days.
Disney’s most recent film, Marvel’s Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, set a US Labor Day weekend record with $US94.7 million ($A129 million) in ticket sales at US and Canadian cinemas.Â
The film played only at cinemas.
But moviegoing for the year remains well below pre-pandemic levels. Theatre chains including AMC Entertainment, Cineworld and Cinemark Holdings are counting on big autumn and winter titles to lure customers back.
Disney’s other 2021 films are historical drama The Last Duel and animated comedy Ron’s Gone Wrong in October, and action spy film The King’s Man in December.
Reuters
