Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment has selected Sept. 14 as the “official” street date for a three-SKU helping of director Cate Shortland’s Black Widow, starring Scarlett Johansson as the Marvel Comics superhero of the same name (aka: Natasha Romanova).
We say “official,” since it has been available from unofficial/unsanctioned online “retail” sites since 1:45 in the afternoon on July 13 as a Blu-ray edition (complete with closed captioning) and even earlier as a DVD selection.
The official street date is Sept. 14, which yields an ARR of just 67 days. Box office revenues currently stand at $154.8 million.
Of note, the film’s star, Scarlett Johansson filed a lawsuit against the studio. Her contention is that theatrical box office receipts are impacted by the day/date Disney+ streaming release.
According to the Los Angeles Times on Thursday, July 29 … Disney’s response to the lawsuit was: “The lawsuit is especially sad and distressing in its callous disregard for the horrific and prolonged global effects of the Covid-19 pandemic.”
There will be no comment on the merits of such a lawsuit or the Covid-19 defense from Disney. However, the likely unintended consequence of Disney+ providing the equivalent of a pristine master of Black Widow for certain “online retailers” (dare we say, pirates) to replicate as both DVD and Blu-ray product offerings — well before the “official” street date — will certainly have some impact on home entertainment packaged media product sales … how much, that’s anyone’s guess.
As to SKU configuration, there will be a 4K Ultra HD/Blu-ray Combo Pack and stand-alone editions for both the DVD and Blu-ray formats.
Bonus features included a blooper reel, deleted scenes and a trio of featurettes — “Filmmaker Introduction,” “Sisters Gonna Work It Out” and “Go Big If You're Going Home.”
