‘Black Widow’ Brings In $60 Million+ Via Disney+ Streaming

Walt Disney brought in over $60 million from around the world from sales of its “Black Widow” movie by the way of Disney+ Premier Access. The flick brought in an $80 million haul at the domestic box office amid its introduction, CNBC reported. The film also brought in nearly $80 million from international ticket sales.

“This is an unprecedented way of reporting opening weekend business for a film, but Disney deserves some credit for detailing what was generated by the actual box office and what was earned from streaming,” Boxoffice.com Chief Analyst Shawn Robbins said, per the report.

“Black Widow” was said to the biggest U.S. box office debut amid the coronavirus, Engadget reported. “That wasn’t difficult, though, given that movie theaters have routinely struggled to attract viewers when they weren’t dealing with widespread closures,” Engadget wrote.

In the movie, “Natasha Romanoff, aka Black Widow, confronts the darker parts of her ledger when a dangerous conspiracy with ties to her past arises,” according to an overview of the movie on Marvel’s website.

The news comes as Disney+ exceeded 100 million subscribers as of March 9, only 16 months after its rollout. That followed the success of Disney’s recent Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) series “WandaVision,” in addition to two seasons of the “Star Wars”-based series “The Mandalorian.”

As PYMNTS previously noted, the world of streaming is becoming increasingly crowded and competitive, as longtime segment leader and trend-setting Netflix is starting to really feel the pressure. The scrappy startup is now defending its kingdom against an army of rising rivals. Disney has proven to be the most active and aggressive of these rivals, but Viacom and HBO have also stepped into the arena to compete with Netflix.