"Going to the movies" has an entirely new meaning through this unprecedented time in world history. With the movie industry completely shut down for nearly six months, including movie theater closures and no new movie releases, at home and on demand movie viewing is at an all-time high.
Already this year, a handful of all-new films are skipping theaters completely in favor of going straight to availability for purchase or rent on-demand at home. Even with this fact considered, there are still a few major blockbusters waiting to debut, and their future is up in the air with whether or not they will come to the big screen. Fans were even asked recently on how they would choose to view some of the biggest of these movies, and the results are interesting to say the least...
NEWS
In a new report from Variety, movie fans were surveyed about their preference for watching upcoming blockbusters for the first time. These films included Black Widow, currently set for global release in theaters on November 6, and Wonder Woman 1984, still scheduled to release on October 2.
In this survey of over 1000 people in the United States between August 3 and 10, 87% said that they would be at least OK with watching Black Widow at home as opposed to waiting for it to release in theaters. This included 32% that said they want to see the film as soon as possible at home, and 55% that would prefer it in theaters but would be OK with it at home.
Black Widow at home as opposed to waiting for it to release in theaters. Comparatively, 84% of people polled said that they would be fine seeing Wonder Woman 1984 from the comfort of their couches.
WHAT THIS MEANS
The future is still very much up in the air for the biggest movies originally set for 2020, a group in which Marvel Studios' Black Widow was clearly included. As both the start of Phase 4 and the first MCU solo film for Scarlett Johansson, hype for this movie is high after over a year with no new MCU releases.
Marvel Studios has mastered the art of promoting their movies and turning the films into massive events for their millions of fans all over the world. Theaters are always jam-packed on opening weekends, and fans usually build up to the releases of new films by watching multiple past MCU movies that connect to the new ones. The world is still holding out hope that Black Widow will receive the theatrical run it deserves, but more than anything, they want to enjoy everything new that the MCU has to offer for Phase 4 and beyond.
53% of poll-takers said they want Wonder Woman 1984 out now regardless of whether it premieres in theaters or at home, especially with this movie coming as the DC Extended Universe's biggest release in nearly 18 months. There is no news on any definitive changes to the studios' plans regarding the highly anticipated Patty Jenkins-led sequel.
