Is Disney About To Send Theatrical Movies To Disney+ Instead?

Are Black Widow, Cruella, Pinocchio, and Peter Pan And Wendy destined for Disney Plus?

This year has been an almost total wipeout on the movie front. Except for the upcoming ‘Wonder Woman 1984‘ and ‘Monster Hunter‘ which are going head to head on Christmas Day (Seriously, Milla?), the big releases have been shifted back until 2021 when hopefully, things will be safer. With the vaccines that have been developed in the U.S.A and the U.K which are shortly going to be available, there’s an extremely good chance that next year will be a much better year. The doors of the movie theatres will be open again and the audiences will be flocking back to get their fix of movie entertainment that has been denied to them this year. But Disney is playing it coy when it comes to their releases.

Wonder Woman 1984 - 010 — Wonder Woman 1984 (Image courtesy of Warner Bros.)

‘Black Widow‘ is not included in their thinking as it will be hitting movie screens first and foremost before a streaming debut and a disc release later in the year. Disney is adamant that the Scarlett Johansson starring Marvel movie will open internationally in theatres. But although their plans have not been confirmed, the rumor is leaking out that some of Disney’s big cinematic releases will go straight to Disney+ instead.

Black Widow 001 — Black Widow (Image courtesy of Marvel Studios/Disney)

From what is being said, it seems that the movies in the firing line are the Emma Stone and Emma Thompson starring ‘Cruella‘ which features Stone as the evil Dalmation chasing Cruella De Ville from ‘101 Dalmations‘, the live-action remake of ‘Pinocchio‘ starring Tom Hanks and directed by Robert Zemeckis and ‘Peter Pan And Wendy‘ which is a live-action take on the classic animated favorite. If this comes to pass then it will be another blow to Zemeckis and Hanks after their films ‘The Witches‘ and ‘Greyhound‘ respectively went straight to streaming instead of opening theatrically thanks to the pandemic this summer. But although ‘Cruella‘ has completed filming and is scheduled for a May 28th release next year, filming on ‘Pinocchio‘ and ‘Peter Pan And Wendy‘ hasn’t even started yet. And yet, apparently, they are being considered for a Disney+ PVOD release already.

Disney+ (Image courtesy of Disney)

We may be at least a year or more away from the films being ready for release but the smart money is on them hitting the streaming service and bypassing the silver screen entirely. It seems that the industry has been changed completely by the coronavirus and that this is going to be the way the studios decide to go in the future.

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Carl Roberts is a Senior Entertainment/Books and Literature Correspondent for The Future of the Force. Aside from being our horror genre aficionado, he is also passionate about Star Wars, Marvel, DC, and the Indiana Jones movies. Follow him on Twitter @CarlRoberts2 where he uses the force frequently!

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Source: Deadline