Uncle David's House Of Box Office: Reboot

I haven't written about weekly box office in a really long time. Even before the pandemic, it became an overwrought exercise.

But Disney has triggered me.

I'm not even clear in my own head about what it is that so worries me about their behavior around Black Widow and Jungle Cruise. Even when they announced the day-n-date Premium Video On Demand (PVOD) for these two titles, it didn't bother me much, no matter how much I believe in theatrical as a financial necessity by distributors. I saw two films, still in the window of COVID, taking advantage of alternative revenue opportunity while still pushing out wide theatrical releases. Would this cannibalize the theatrical? Yes. But not to a huge degree, I thought.

And indeed... I don't think the option cannibalized the theatrical release a whole lot. Even if you assume two people for every PVOD purchase buying theatrical tickets, it was just three million units, translating to $60 million in theatrical revenue that didn't happen. This would no…