Black Widow Box Office: Projected Numbers Improve After Recent Delay

April 8, 2021

Black Widow projected to earn better box office numbers after recent delay

Following Disney’s official confirmation about Black Widow’s simultaneous theatrical and Disney+ release, fans have been divided about this big announcement. Some are actually excited to have the chance to watch it at home, while others are worried that this might hurt more the film’s box office performance. However, according to a recent report by Observer, it looks like Marvel Studios and Disney’s most recent gamble with Black Widow could actually pay off in the end after all.

The outlet notes that the Scarlett Johansson-led film is projected to perform much better at the box office with its current July 9 release than its previous May 28 date where it was projected to take only $45 million. The upcoming Marvel film is now reportedly tracking to earn around $170 million at the North American box office (including a $63 million opening weekend), which proves the studio made the right call to delay the film again.

“As far as Marvel goes and other films that have pushed further back into summer, that can only help their cause at this point,” Exhibitor Relations’ Senior Box Office Analyst, Jeff Block said. “As the science of things points to the film industry getting more resilient across the board. That’s excellent news for blockbusters, considering budgets usually balloon upwards of $200M these days.”

Set between the events of Captain America: Civil War and Avengers: Infinity War, the film follows Natasha Romanoff aka Black Widow as she confronts the darker parts of her ledger when a dangerous conspiracy with ties to her past arises. Pursued by a force that will stop at nothing to bring her down, Natasha must deal with her history as a spy and the broken relationships left in her wake long before she became an Avenger.

The character was last seen by fans during Avengers: Endgame, where she sacrificed her life in order for Jeremy Renner’s Clint Barton/Hawkeye to obtain the Soul stone in Vormir.

The film features a star-studded ensemble cast led by Oscar nominee Scarlett Johansson. Joining her are Golden Globe nominee David Harbour as Alexei aka The Red Guardian, Oscar nominee Florence Pugh as Yelena Belova, Academy Award-winning actress Rachel Weisz as Melina, Ray Winstone as Dreykov, head of The Red Rom, and O-T Fagbenle as Mason.

The movie was directed by Cate Shortland (Lore) from a script written by Jac Schaeffer (The Hustle). Black Widow is set to hit theaters and Disney+ Premier Access simultaneously on July 9, which will be over a year after its original release date.