Our reporter Wang Xiaoli
The Marvel movie "Black Widow" protagonist Scarlett Johansson has been in dispute with Disney for more than half a month. The former accused the company of arbitrarily launching the new work on simultaneous streaming media, while the latter accused the actor of ruthless prosecution.
This move not only sparked heated discussions among the large-scale Marvel fan base, but Kevin Fitch, the president of Marvel Pictures, even stood up and said that he was "angry and ashamed" for Disney's response.
The final result of your coming and going is not yet conclusive, but it reflects the embarrassing situation that Marvel faced after being acquired by Disney: under the strong pressure of streaming media, the Marvel Cinematic Universe is already in jeopardy.
Long overdue, "Black Widow" box office is sluggish
In early July, the Marvel superhero single-player movie "Black Widow" directed by Kate Southland and starring Scarlett Johansson was officially released.
The work focuses on the personal experience of "Black Widow" Natasha Romanov, telling her dark past before becoming a member of the Avengers.
However, not only did the film have a poor reputation, but Marvel fans did not buy it. The reason was that the film came too late.
Along with Iron Man, Captain America, and Thor, the original members of the "Marvel Universe", the single-player movie of "Black Widow" has been ten years late than other single-player works.
What is even more surprising is that "Black Widow" in the "Avengers 4: Endgame" released in 2019 has been "finished" to obtain soul gems, and the prequel film of the character was launched at the time when the series of movies were not connected. It's hard not to be considered a tasteless work.
Some film critics pointed out that "Black Widow" has become Disney's money-making tool.
It is worth noting that just two days after "Black Widow" landed in theaters, the movie was also launched on the Disney streaming platform Disney+.
Such a tight time gap shocked the starring actor Scarlett Johansson. According to him, this was the opposite of the previously signed contract that was limited to theaters only.
It is expected that this approach will cost actors up to $50 million in box office dividends.
Disney responded by saying: “This lawsuit is meaningless. Scarlett’s lawsuit is sad and heartache. She ruthlessly ignored the terrible and lasting impact of the new crown virus on the world. In addition to the 2000 she has received so far. Ten thousand dollars, the release of "Black Widow" through Disney+ significantly strengthened her ability to earn extra profits."
Up to now, "Black Widow" has a global box office of nearly 370 million U.S. dollars, and its score is in the bottom of the Marvel universe. Poor ratings and unexpected disputes have also given fans a reputation for Marvel movies in the "post-reversion era". Big question mark.
Bowing to streaming media, Hollywood movies are facing dramatization
Compared with the unknown Marvel movies, the Marvel series is quite productive. Since this year, the audience has been watching the broadcast of the three works of "Wanda Vision", "Falcon and the Winter Soldier" and "Rocky". Out, the driving force behind all this is also the core of the "Scarlett Incident"-Disney + platform.
In recent years, Hollywood's major film and television companies have turned their attention to streaming media. Big IP with a wide range of appeals is a battleground. Disney naturally refuses to abandon its own Marvel resources and invests heavily in creating related dramas. set.
The positive impact of these works on the platform is obvious, and the most direct is to promote the number of platform user subscriptions to exceed the 100 million mark.
At present, "Rocky" has occupied the top spot in the number of viewers on the platform, and starting from "Rocky", Disney+ has moved the broadcast time of original episodes ahead of Friday in order to avoid the premiere time of most movies. Until Wednesday.
At the same time, Disney's "favoring one another" hurts Marvel movies at a glance.
Fans know that the Marvel Cinematic Universe is structured through the connection between characters and stories and supplemented by easter eggs. This setting also appears in the series, just like the second of "Falcon and the Winter Soldier" and "Black Widow" The connection between each egg, and the clues about "Doctor Strange 2" in "Wanda Vision" and "Rocky".
However, when the big screen and streaming media are linked, it is inevitable that the audience will be divided.
With the opening of the new stage of the Marvel Universe, do fans only have to watch the drama to understand the movie?
Industry insiders believe that Disney's simultaneous launch of "Black Widow" is only to collect the value of the work in advance. After all, as long as Disney will release movies to theaters in the future, then directly breaking the window period is definitely not a good strategy.