The theatrical industry is still in a state of disarray, and at this stage it looks like we’ll be well into 2021 before things regain even the merest hint of normality. Almost every major release has been delayed until next year, and there’s a distinct chance that they could get pushed back again if business fails to pick up soon, but the likes of Warner Bros., Marvel Studios, Walt Disney Pictures and Pixar have discovered that it helps soften the blow if your parent company owns a streaming service.
Mulan was said to be a massive earner after being made available exclusively on Disney Plus Premier Access, and the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s Black Widow is rumored to be following suit. Pixar’s Soul, meanwhile, is also heading straight to the Mouse House’s in-house platform on Christmas Day, while WB’s Wonder Woman 1984 will debut simultaneously on the big screen and HBO Max.
Warner Bros. have already seen Christopher Nolan’s Tenet struggle at the box office, although $357 million globally is a decent tally given the circumstances, and the studio have since sent Dune all the way to next October. Furthermore, the Mortal Kombat reboot was initially scheduled to debut in January, but the video game adaptation was recently pulled from the calendar and now sits in limbo awaiting another launch date.
A new report claims that the higher ups did at one point consider sending Simon McQuoid’s feature debut straight to HBO Max, but the decision was ultimately made to first see how things play out over the next few months. Of course, the longer this uncertainty continues, the more likely it gets that Mortal Kombat becomes a streaming exclusive, especially when video game movies are far from a sure thing at the box office anyway. But for now, we’ll just have to wait and see what happens.
