BLACK WIDOW: THE MOVIE (TBD) 4 4

[piper]

On 9/23/2020 at 12:25 PM, paperheart said:

fait accompli after Tenet

It appears that I'm going to be watching a lot more TV Shows on Netflix.

[kimik]

All of the content developers will be moving this way in the future. Why let the theatre chains take a piece of the action when you can get people to subscribe to your streaming channel and/or purchase the movie to stream instead? What Disney, AT&T and others should do is lower the price on ordering the movie early. Instead of $30, price it at $7.99 or $9.99. At that price point, significantly more subscribers will bite the bullet to see the movie upon release, and it will provide more incentive for investors to finance films. The point of a streaming service is recurring revenue. As long as investors can generate an acceptable rate of return then Disney/AT&T/etc. will be laughing - get others to finance the content that drives more consumers to subscribe to your platform while enabling you to keep a larger % of the PVOD take since there are no middle companies (i.e. theatre chains) in between. Heck, the investors may prefer this as well as they could end up negotiating a higher % of the return.

Edited September 25, 2020 by kimik

[@therealsilvermane]

33 minutes ago, kimik said:

All of the content developers will be moving this way in the future. Why let the theatre chains take a piece of the action when you can get people to subscribe to your streaming channel and/or purchase the movie to stream instead? What Disney, AT&T and others should do is lower the price on ordering the movie early. Instead of $30, price it at $7.99 or $9.99. At that price point, significantly more subscribers will bite the bullet to see the movie upon release, and it will provide more incentive for investors to finance films. The point of a streaming service is recurring revenue. As long as investors can generate an acceptable rate of return then Disney/AT&T/etc. will be laughing - get others to finance the content that drives more consumers to subscribe to your platform while enabling you to keep a larger % of the PVOD take since there are no middle companies (i.e. theatre chains) in between. Heck, the investors may prefer this as well as they could end up negotiating a higher % of the return.

For us MCU fans, that's cool for the smaller character pieces we'll see on Disney+. But if we want to keep getting the bigger solo adventures and Avengers level films, the theaters have to come back. Those huge box office returns are what really fuel the MCU. We as a society need to get this virus thing under control so the economy and the movie theaters can return. This isn't good for anybody.

Edited September 25, 2020 by @therealsilvermane

[Bosco685]

7 minutes ago, @therealsilvermane said:

For us MCU fans, that's cool for the smaller character pieces we'll see on Disney+. But if we want to keep getting the bigger solo adventures and Avengers level films, the theaters have to come back. Those huge box office returns are what really fuel the MCU. We as a society need to get this virus thing under control so the economy and the movie theaters can return. This isn't good for anybody.

Thanks for being our MCU theater ambassador. I hadn't seen the voting card in the mail. 

But as a fellow MCU fan, I want to see any of these films and TV shows when they become available. As cool as it is to be part of a theater audience and participating in their reactions. With COVID, we are a long ways off from a safer theater environment.

[@therealsilvermane]

4 minutes ago, Bosco685 said:

Thanks for being our MCU theater ambassador. I hadn't seen the voting card in the mail. 

PSA for the day: Wear a mask. Vote.

[kimik]

1 hour ago, @therealsilvermane said:

For us MCU fans, that's cool for the smaller character pieces we'll see on Disney+. But if we want to keep getting the bigger solo adventures and Avengers level films, the theaters have to come back. Those huge box office returns are what really fuel the MCU. We as a society need to get this virus thing under control so the economy and the movie theaters can return. This isn't good for anybody.

How much does Marvel actually see from the tickets sold via the theatre? Eventually, their streaming service will end up being more valuable since the $$$$ go straight to them without the theatres taking a clip. And, more importantly, releasing via the streaming service will increase the number of subscribers who pay a theatre ticket price monthly that goes directly to them, not every 3 - 4 months. 

Remember, Disney does not foot the majority of production costs. That is covered by investors, government funds, and product placement. They are more responsible for the marketing costs, which are not that high relative to production costs. If they can go direct to consumers with a product that is financed by others through their own distribution channel AND make just as much or more $$$, why waste time with theatres? 

The way we consume media is definitely changing towards in home via streaming. That trend is not changing. 

[Bosco685]

Quote

Black Widow Cast

Scarlett Johansson of course leads Black Widow as the titular character. Surrounding her are almost entirely new faces to the MCU. Two returning players include Thaddeus "Thunderbolt" Ross (William Hurt), who's confirmed, and Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.), who's heavily rumored to appear. Since Black Widow is a prequel, that explains Tony still being alive. Florence Pugh plays Yelena Belova, while Rachel Weisz plays Melina Vostokoff, two other Black Widows. Stranger Things' David Harbour plays Black Widow's cohort Red Guardian, the not quite equal Russian counterpart to Captain America. O-T Fagbenle will play a potential love interest to Natasha, while Ray Winstone plays Dreykov, the head of the Red Room.

 

Black Widow Story Details
Set following the events of Captain America: Civil War, Black Widow sees Natasha returning to her former homeland of Russia, where she's forced to enter an uneasy alliance with past allies Yelena, Melina, and Red Guardian in order to take down a dangerous foe called Taskmaster. Manipulating the Red Room for purposes not clear as of yet, Taskmaster is lethal due to his ability to study and duplicate the fighting styles of his opponents. He can even do it just from watching them on video. Defeating Taskmaster will require Natasha to reckon with her deadly past, and all the red on her ledger. What happened to Black Widow and Hawkeye in Budapest will also finally be revealed.

 

Everything We Know About Taskmaster’s Real Identity

A fan-favorite character, Taskmaster's presence in the first solo Black Widow movie has conjured a mystery around itself; the trailers and promo material so far have shown a masked assailant who is referred to only by his designation, 'Taskmaster'. Florence Pugh's character, Yelena Belova (the second Black Widow in the comic books), describes Taskmaster as being in charge of the 'Red Room'; the KGB's facility for creating Russian super-spies and super-soldiers. Which actor (or actress) is behind the mask is currently unknown - a minor miracle in itself, in the age of the internet and near-constant spoilers and leaks. The mystery behind Taskmaster's identity has allowed for some fun theorizing within the fan community, as every interview tidbit with the cast can be examined to discover who is under Taskmaster's mask.

 

MCU Taskmaster's Origin Story

As previously mentioned, Yelena Belova mentions that Taskmaster is now in charge of the Red Room, and has the fledgling 'Black Widows' under his (or her) thumb. Whilst Yelena refers to Taskmaster as a 'he', it is currently unconfirmed that the character actually is a man, rather than a woman. It's hard to determine the character's origin from the trailers for Black Widow, as so little has been given away of the character. Taskmaster can be seen mimicking the fighting styles of Black Widow, Black Panther, Captain America and proficiency with a bow and arrow just like Hawkeye, but this does little to inform fans of Taskmaster's backstory - only his skills.

 

As Taskmaster is in charge of the Red Room during the events of Black Widow, it's simple to assume that he is a product of the same program that produced Black Widow and her Russian 'family'; Yelena Belova, Melina Vostokoff (Rachel Weisz) and Alexei Shostakov a.k.a. Red Guardian (David Harbour). Russian authorities are notoriously impenetrable even in real life, let alone the Marvel Cinematic Universe; having an outsider infiltrate the KGB's Red Room seems improbable. It's likely that Taskmaster, then, is Russian - if only to explain his ability to commandeer the resources of the Red Room deep inside the Kremlin. Equally, Taskmaster could be a Russian posing as a person of another nationality, much like Natasha Romanoff affects an American accent (allowing whichever actor is playing Taskmaster to retain whatever accent they have).

 

[Bosco685]

Quote

While the Red Guardian and Black Widow are married in the comics, their relationship is different in the live-action Marvel film. In a new interview, David Harbour (who plays Alexei Shostakov in Black Widow) reveals his connection to Scarlett Johansson’s Natasha Romanoff:

 

“Now, the connection to him and Black Widow is that they were set up as a spy family in America in the ’90s. So, Rachel Weisz’s character, Melina, was sort of the mom, Alexei was the dad and Natasha and Yelena were their little kids. We see that in the beginning of the movie, and they sort of function as a family.”

 

Harbour continued:

 

“And when we pick up, Alexei’s had this deep knowledge of Natasha in a certain way that no one else had when she was a kid. He took her from the Red Room and also put her back into the Red Room because he believed in this cause.”

 

[Bosco685]

What if to get a jump on a streaming female action film Disney releases Black Widow ahead of WW84 on Disney Plus?

[Bosco685]

Quote

WarnerMedia is making it so the studio's entire slate of 2021 releases will pop up on HBO Max the same day they'll be first shown in theaters. With no end in sight to the ongoing global pandemic, distribution through streaming video and over-the-top (OTT) services has never been stronger. Because of that, the decision-makers at Disney are going to have to make a pretty massive decision sooner or later, and that's the release plans for Marvel Studios' Black Widow. As it turns out, that new is something that could come as soon as next Thursday, December 10th — the date for Disney's annual Investor Day presentation.

 

The House of Mouse has already confirmed the presentation — which will be live-streamed from the Disney site beginning at 4:30 p.m. Eastern — will last around four hours, and will be focused nearly entirely on its direct-to-consumer division. The business of the company division including Disney+, Hulu, ESPN+, and Star.

 

[drotto]

2 hours ago, Bosco685 said:

 

WB decision to drop all of its 2021 slate on HBO max, will have a ripple effect where all the major studios will be forced to do the same. I am really going to miss the theater experience.

[Xenosmilus]

1 hour ago, drotto said:

WB decision to drop all of its 2021 slate on HBO max, will have a ripple effect where all the major studios will be forced to do the same. I am really going to miss the theater experience.

I will too but it’s not as bad as everyone thinks I believe. The studios are just sitting on content. They are still producing new content and when theaters open back up there will still be new content to be shown in theaters. If they continue to sit on the content there will just be a backlog. The situation really stinks but it’s a strategy they should have started earlier IMHO. It keeps money rolling in now (for the film industry anyways) and the industry people employed I would think.  Personally don’t see the point of sitting on content just so theater chains can make money and everyone else has to suffer (film industry and viewers). I hate to sound cold but unfortunately they are collateral damage at this point. That being said I will still go back to the theaters and spend my money once they open back up! But in the mean time... 

Edited December 6, 2020 by Xenosmilus

[Xenosmilus]

There are so many leaks and fan theories about BW I almost feel like I’ve seen it 😂 

[▫️]

On 3/10/2020 at 3:39 PM, theCapraAegagrus said:

Final trailer is good. Marginally increases my interest. Still no plan to see in theaters, though.

🤔

[Bosco685]

6 hours ago, Xenosmilus said:

I will too but it’s not as bad as everyone thinks I believe. The studios are just sitting on content. They are still producing new content and when theaters open back up there will still be new content to be shown in theaters. If they continue to sit on the content there will just be a backlog. The situation really stinks but it’s a strategy they should have started earlier IMHO. It keeps money rolling in now (for the film industry anyways) and the industry people employed I would think.  Personally don’t see the point of sitting on content just so theater chains can make money and everyone else has to suffer (film industry and viewers). I hate to sound cold but unfortunately they are collateral damage at this point. That being said I will still go back to the theaters and spend my money once they open back up! But in the mean time... 

Was noting similar thinking the other day in the coronivrus thread.

On 12/3/2020 at 6:13 PM, Bosco685 said:

If you step back and think through the situation for a moment, what the studios are dealing with is a pandemic-based backlog of product waiting repeatedly for a big shift in vaccines and consumers being comfortable to go back into the theaters.

It's a tough situation for all these studios. Everything in the 2020 queue is holding up the next group of 2021 films. So throwing out estimates on box office results in the heat of a pandemic working toward a vaccine-safe could be ignoring reality.

On 12/3/2020 at 6:38 PM, Bosco685 said:

It sucks. Thousands of people contributing to these films now most probably unemployed and hungry to get back to work.

But like the AMC boss even had to admit, these are still uncharted waters. Even the best of the box office forecasters out there can't keep it straight what is going to happen. But they try.

 

Studios are dealing with a massive combined backlog now of films while it also deals with opening/closing theaters and consumes questioning when it will be safe to attend such large-audience venues. Add to this a studio workforce also dealing with unemployment while they wait for things to move forward, it's not surprising hybrid or direct streaming releases become the reality going into 2021.

And for box office analysts proclaiming studios are missing out on massive revenue, they forget about the massive amount of moviegoers that are also impacted by unemployment due to COVID. Excessive entertainment cash will be low on the list for those folks. It's sad.

[media_junkie]

23 minutes ago, Bosco685 said:

 

And for box office analysts proclaiming studios are missing out on massive revenue, they forget about the massive amount of moviegoers that are also impacted by unemployment due to COVID. Excessive entertainment cash will be low on the list for those folks. It's sad.

And that is a huge point.  I think a family of four (or more) that is dealing with loss of income due to Covid will be alot more likely to pay $14.99 a month for a HBOMax than they are $40+ to see a movie in theaters.  To me it is a no brainer.  If you are unemployed yes you want to cut expenses but you also need entertainment to take you mind off of the fact you are unemployed.  You cannot take a family of four to a movie for less than $40 where I live (and that is just ticket prices, no concessions).  

With what WB is doing you would get to watch all new 2021 movies (21 of them I think) for $180.00, compared to $840 if you took a family of four to see them at the theater.  Hell, even if you are not unemployed that is a HUGE savings.  Additionally you have access to all the other content on HBOMax, not just the new 21 movies.  Of course the theaters are running scared, they don't care how much revenue the studios are missing out on.  They are running the numbers and seeing how much revenue they are missing out on.  

Things are changing, depending on your point of view it is either good or bad.  From my point of view it is a good change.

[Buzzetta]

On 9/25/2020 at 9:18 AM, @therealsilvermane said:

For us MCU fans, that's cool for the smaller character pieces we'll see on Disney+. But if we want to keep getting the bigger solo adventures and Avengers level films, the theaters have to come back. Those huge box office returns are what really fuel the MCU. We as a society need to get this virus thing under control so the economy and the movie theaters can return. This isn't good for anybody.

 

On 9/25/2020 at 9:29 AM, Bosco685 said:

Thanks for being our MCU theater ambassador. I hadn't seen the voting card in the mail. 

But as a fellow MCU fan, I want to see any of these films and TV shows when they become available. As cool as it is to be part of a theater audience and participating in their reactions. With COVID, we are a long ways off from a safer theater environment.

I disagree with this... (Silvermane's comment that movie theaters need to return)

@Bosco685 do you recall an exchange we had a month( or two?) ago regarding that perhaps the shutdown would be great for movies because it would force them to scale back?  If movies cannot continually get 'bigger' then that opens the doors for a lot of new material.  The Mandalorian is showing us that you can put on an epic mini movie each week for Disney+. So you can have a big epic narrative on a streaming platform.  Also, whenever you are committing a big box office budget it is a gamble and while I love me some RDJ Iron Man, it is less risky to launch these characters and try out new things on a smaller screen.

A few months ago, I figured movie theaters would remain closed.  Now I am actually hoping that theaters remain closed as this will force movie studies to think outside the box and abandon the cookie cutter things they have been doing over the years.  Sure there are innovative ideas still coming out of Hollywood.  However, the rug has been pulled out from under them and now they have to reinvent themselves to stay viable.  Let's see what happens. 

 

And hey, I could easily be wrong. 

 

Edited December 6, 2020 by Buzzetta

[Bosco685]

35 minutes ago, Buzzetta said:

 

I disagree with this... (Silvermane's comment that movie theaters need to return)

@Bosco685 do you recall an exchange we had a month( or two?) ago regarding that perhaps the shutdown would be great for movies because it would force them to scale back?  If movies cannot continually get 'bigger' then that opens the doors for a lot of new material.  The Mandalorian is showing us that you can put on an epic mini movie each week for Disney+. So you can have a big epic narrative on a streaming platform.  Also, whenever you are committing a big box office budget it is a gamble and while I love me some RDJ Iron Man, it is less risky to launch these characters and try out new things on a smaller screen.

A few months ago, I figured movie theaters would remain closed.  Now I am actually hoping that theaters remain closed as this will force movie studies to think outside the box and abandon the cookie cutter things they have been doing over the years.  Sure there are innovative ideas still coming out of Hollywood.  However, the rug has been pulled out from under them and now they have to reinvent themselves to stay viable.  Let's see what happens. 

 

And hey, I could easily be wrong. 

This is so true!

I had free credit from VUDU to purchase digital films or TV shows for myself. I went back to 2018-2019 to see what I didn't have already. So many films I would scroll by thinking 'junk' or 'mediocre'. Tightening up Hollywood's shot group to focus on quality over quantity would be a much better result. If studios can force themselves to have that level of disciple.

[alexgross.com]

i guess someone at disney decided that it was worth it to eat a bunch of toy license losses on this film, because for months now i've seen black widow legos and red guardian action figures languishing on the shelves at target every time i've been with my son, which is a few times. 

[Buzzetta]

1 hour ago, www.alexgross.com said:

i guess someone at disney decided that it was worth it to eat a bunch of toy license losses on this film, because for months now i've seen black widow legos and red guardian action figures languishing on the shelves at target every time i've been with my son, which is a few times. 

This is the conundrum that first reared in the "Superhero Age of Movies" with GI Joe Retaliation.  The toys were planned and ready to go... and then the movie was all ready to go.  The toys started showing up at retail to tie into the movie in April-May of 2012.  The movie was set for its June 2012 release date.

Then the movie was pulled.   At the last minute it was delayed by a year and would be released in mid 2013 and later moved up to March of 2013.  Paramount said that they wanted to convert the movie to 3D but rumors abounded that they tried to fix what would be a lackluster film.  The toys had already shipped.

Waitaminute...

Unfamiliar toys for a movie that no one could associate the toys with because the movie had not been released shipped.  Roadblock looked like Dwayne Johnson instead of... 'Roadblock".  So what happened?  If you follow GI Joe toys, you know that GI Joe Retaliation was a last ditch effort for GI Joe to continue as a brand at mainstream retail.  Retailers were pissed to put it lightly.  Initial waves were severely discounted in some areas or taking up valuable storage space at brick and mortar for at least a year until they could be released again.  Subsequent waves of figures were not purchased in any reasonable quantity since the first waves had not sold.

It killed the line.  The delay of GI Joe Retaliation was short sighted and effective killed GI Joe from 2013 until 2020. 

The only retailers that would stock GI Joe was Toys R Us and BBTS.com who would release 50th Anniversary collections for two years straight from 2014-2015 (Hey Buzz, wouldn't that be the 51st Anniversary Collection?  Umm this is 'Hasbro' we are talking about)  The fan club picked up the slack and produced 13-20 figures per year for 2016 through 2018 at a minimum of $35 each until they shut down and the line died until earlier this year. 

Now...

Luckily Black Widow is not reliant on Lego and Hasbro Action figures.  Luckily Lego is not reliant on movies and Hasbro has a bunch of different properties it licenses... okay... luckily Hasbro owns half the rights of the Transformers.  

But Black Widow is losing money the longer it stays on the shelves.  In fact the Marvel Universe needs to put forth some media.  Wandavision comes on in January but if that is the only offering for the next six months then there is too much of a delay.  The longer you are absent from the marketplace the harder it is to recapture market share. 

Edited December 6, 2020 by Buzzetta