The Walt Disney Company
DIS
recently announced that its remaining 2021 slate of films will be released exclusively in theaters before being released on the Disney+ streaming platform.
Walt Disney Animation Studios’
Encanto
will release on Nov 24 with a 30-day exclusive theatrical window before appearing on Disney+ on Christmas Eve. The rest of the slate will each have a 45-day theatrical release window including
The Last Duel
(Oct 15),
Ron’s Gone Wrong
(Oct 22),
Eternals
(Nov 5),
West Side Story
(Dec 10), and
The King’s Man
(Dec 22).
Besides, Disney revealed that Marvel Studios has blocked off four release dates throughout 2024, Feb 16, May 3, Jul 26, and Nov 8. While movies scheduled for release on these dates have not been officially announced,
Fantastic Four
reboot,
Blade
and
Deadpool 3
could be contenders as they are already in various stages of production.
The Walt Disney Company Price and Consensus
The Walt Disney Company price-consensus-chart
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The Walt Disney Company Quote
Disney’s Cinema-First Release Strategy Builds Hopes for Theater Chains
Disney appears confident that consumers are ready to return to cinemas and that the future of its blockbuster features is on the big screen, despite COVID-19 spikes caused by the Delta variant. Theater chains including
AMC Entertainment
AMC
, Cineworld Plc, and
Cinemark Holdings Inc
CNK
are counting on the big fall and winter releases to attract customers back.
Disney’s decision follows the successful 45-day theater-first releases of
Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings
and
Free Guy
.
Shang-Chi
topped $71.4 million in its Labor Day weekend release, the second-biggest opening haul for films released theatrically during the pandemic while
Free Guy
, from Disney’s 20th Century Studios, contractually obligated to be released only in theaters, has grossed $239.2 million globally.
Although the entertainment giant chose to release a series of big productions such as
Black Widow, Jungle Cruise,
and
Cruella
on its Disney+ platform simultaneously, the upcoming slate of releases beyond 2021 is encouraging for traditional theater owners.
Although
Spider-Man: No Way Home
was not included in this list, it will also likely have an exclusive theatrical release.
Among the new movie release dates recently announced, Guillermo del Toro’s
Nightmare Alley
has moved to a wide release on Dec 17 from Dec 3. The
Bob’s Burgers Movie
, based on the animated television series of the same name, will release on May 27, 2022 while Disney’s live-action remake of
The Little Mermaid
will debut in theaters on May 26, 2023.
Other major studios have been closely watching this Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) company to determine whether they should also resume in-theater debuts. You can see
the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here
.
AT&T
’s
T
WarnerMedia owned Warner Bros inked a deal with AMC earlier this month for a 45-day theatrical window in 2022. It had previously signed a similar agreement with Cineworld. Universal Pictures and its Focus Features were the first to deal, agreeing to a 17-day exclusive theatrical window with AMC back in July 2020.
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