Black Widow, Marvel Studios’ upcoming American superhero film starring Scarlett Johansson, will release in theatres on May 7, announced Walt Disney during its annual shareholder’s meeting held virtually on Tuesday.
The announcement came along with the news of Disney+ surpassing 100 million subscribers since its launch in November 2019.
“The enormous success of Disney+, which has now surpassed 100 million subscribers, has inspired us to be even more ambitious, and to significantly increase our investment in the development of high-quality content. In fact, we set a target of 100+ new titles per year, and this includes Disney Animation, Disney Live-Action, Marvel, Star Wars, and National Geographic. Our direct-to-consumer business is the company’s top priority, and our robust pipeline of content will continue to fuel its growth,” Bob Chapek, Walt Disney’s chief executive officer said in the meeting.
Black Widow, the spy-thriller film, is one of the major films among several others slated to release this year. Black Widow is the 24th film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) which is based on the Marvel Comics character of the same name. Directed by Cate Shortland and written by Eric Pearson from a story by Jac Schaeffer and Ned Benson, the film is set after the 2016 feature film Captain America: Civil War where Natasha Romanoff aka Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson) “quests between the films Civil War and Infinity War“.
Another upcoming American romantic musical drama film West Side Story, directed and co-produced by Steven Spielberg, an adaptation of the 1957 Broadway musical of the same name is also set to have a theatrical release on December 10. The film was initially supposed to release on December 18, 2020, but due to the Covid-19 pandemic, Disney had delayed the release to December 10 2021, the 60th anniversary of the release of the first adaptation film in 1961.
Since the launch of Disney+ in November 2020, the platform has premiered several series such as The Mandalorian, WandaVision, Raya and the Last Dragon, Muppets Now, Marvel’s 616.
During the 2021 Television Critics Association Winter Press Tour, Disney+ announced the premiere dates of several new series and new seasons, including Marvel Studios’ Loki, Star Wars: The Bad Batch, and the second season of the High School Musical: The Musical series.
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On the occasion of Walt Disney’s Investor Day in December 2020, Disney+ announced plans to release approximately 10 Star Wars series and 10 Marvel series, along with 15 Disney live-action, Disney Animation, and Pixar series. It had also announced that the subscription fee for Disney+ will be increased by a dollar from $6.99 to $7.99 per month from March 26, 2021. With Disney+ planning to release more than 100 titles per year, the company said that the Disney Bundle (with Disney+, Hulu, and ESPN+) would be priced at $13.99 per month, up from its current price of $12.99 per month.
During the shareholders meeting, Chapek also mentioned that the Walt Disney Company won five Golden Globe Awards 2021— Nomadland (Hulu) won Best Motion Picture Award for Drama while Chloe Zhao won the Best Director Award, animated film Soul (Disney+) won the Best Animated Film Award and the Best Original Score, Andra Day won the Best Actress Award for her film The United States vs Billie Holiday (Hulu).