Free Guy launched to Disney’s SVOD services at the end of February, and the results are again clear- it doesn’t have to be either/or when it comes to theatrical and streaming releases. In fact, the stats suggest it’s better to view them as a cohesive partnership. Blake & Wang P.A. Brandon Blake explains further.
SVOD Success
Free Guy hit Disney+ on the weekend of February 23rd, earning 1.025B domestic minutes according to Nielsen. This after a full theatrical run that brought in $126M domestically and $332M worldwide. Hardly the largest figures, but on a $115M budget and for its release time, not bad. It is also running now on HBO Max.
Those SVOD stats for Disney+ alone are easily comparable to Shang-Chi (1.072B) and Raya and the Last Dragon (1.078B). It falls short on Encanto’s 2.2B, but it was never performing in the same category as that movie, either. In fact, many industry experts feel that Encanto was sold very short with a truncated theatrical release. So much so, that it has been announced Encanto will return to participating theaters in April for another shot at those missing theatrical earnings!
A Questionable Model
Many key industry players have questioned the long-term viability of Disney training its fans to expect near-immediate ‘free’ access to their biggest-budget pictures just to drive short-term subscription numbers. Honestly, looking at Free Guy’s performance on streaming, they’re right.
Free Guy ran for the full 45-day theatrical exclusive window that’s becoming the post-pandemic standard. It was hampered a little by continual postponements from its originally anticipated July 2020 date, meaning that a lot of the hype generated in late 2019 and early 2020 had soured. Also, its eventual August 2021 release date came at a time when mandates and venue restrictions were still in play and theater-going confidence was low, meaning it could have performed even better at a ‘normal’ box office.
And yet it still is pulling excellent SVOD numbers for the appeal and style of film. It’s hard to imagine that true blockbusters, especially those of the sparkling Disney theatrical spectacle variety, can’t do the same and better. Once again, it’s unwise to see theatrical releases as an opposition to streaming success. Instead, at least in this entertainment attorney’s opinion, it’s wiser to see them as a holistic whole in the modern movie marketing landscape.
