Hey Yo! What's going on!? This is "The Reel Geno" Geno Reynolds back with the newest installment of Reel Bumming.
The column I was going to write was going to be on how Warner Bros. could be the heroes of the holiday season by continuing their plans to release Wonder Woman 1984 on Christmas Day...and the day before I began to write, they decided to do just that...sort of...
You're probably thinking right now, "But Geno...you keep talking about Wonder Woman, but the title of this is called "Your Move Marvel!'...where's the MARVEL?" Don't worry, I'll be getting there in a second...and now we're here. Marvel...DC's making you look like s*** right now.
I guess technically it would be Warner Bros. making Disney look like s***, but that's besides the point. While Marvel has collected so many W's over DC since the MCU started, it took the "crappy beer virus" to really turn the tides for now. If you do like Corona, it's just a joke, Dom. Most of the bigger blockbuster movies got pushed back because of Dom's favorite virus: Bond, A Quiet Place 2, Fast 9 (you'd think Dom would be happy about this), and many others keep moving their release dates again and again.
While many would argue that TENET was supposed to be the "blockbuster" that saved theaters, I never thought this would happen. As I've said before on my YouTube channel, TENET was NEVER going to be a blockbuster even if things were normal. In my opinion, Christopher Nolan is a very hit and miss director...not the invincible, no mistake making, super director that many make him out to be...but that is another story for another time, I think. You'll get your turn someday Mr. Nolan...
No...the movies that were going to save the theaters were going to be, for the most part, Wonder Woman and Black Widow...technically Black Widow should have been out by now and The Eternals was going to be released in November, but there has been so many changes that I can't remember them all anymore.
Disney tried to experiment with releasing a movie on VOD instead of theaters, but failed miserably. Well, when the Dom Virus hit, Onward was immediately released on Disney+...a darn good move for a very niche movie. Later, they released Artemis Fowl on the platform, but that movie is pretty bad, so I'm sure they were more than happy to cut their losses not releasing it in theaters. Releasing Hamilton on Independence Day was a stroke of genius and if you haven't seen it, check it out. They are also releasing Pixar's Soul on Disney+ as well on Christmas. All good movies (of the one's I've seen, anyway), but then came the live action Mulan. While I can't tell you if it was any good or not (I'm waiting for it to show up on Disney+), nobody wanted to pay an extra $30 on top of their subscription fee to see it...and I'm one of them.
I had no real desire to see the movie anyway, not because of some "stop the remakes" call or anything...it just has never been a Disney property that I've been excited about is all. This, in a way, is where Disney made a pretty big mistake...the desire to see the movie. You see, I believe that they used Mulan as a test run to see if people would pa an extra $30 for a movie. The problem is, Mulan was the WRONG movie. Even with the promise that it was a one time fee and you got to keep and watch the movie as long as you had a Disney+ subscription, this isn't one that was going to garner the response they were hoping for. They were using Mulan to see if people pay for Black Widow the same way. Here's the thing...I think people would.
If Black Widow was offered in the same exact manner as Mulan was, I and many others would have paid for it. Even if they still made the Mulan blunder, I'd still be willing to pay if it were the same deal. When the Furious Virus first hit, movie studios wanted you to rent a movie that was meant for theaters on VOD...the first case being Trolls: World Tour, and many of us did it.
Let me tell you, that is a crappy deal. $20 for a two day rental...I only did it once...technically. While I did get Scoob! on VOD, I paid a little extra and got to keep it. While it really wasn't worth the extra money as a rental, I still got a better deal in the end.
Here's the thing, Disney doesn't have to do anything it doesn't want to do...but they should. Just because they probably have the most money doesn't mean that they can survive forever. While there will always be an interest in the Marvel property, Disney's public perception keeps rolling downhill more and more the longer the F8 Virus keeps theaters closed. Warner Bros. has made the best move that they could with a movie that a lot of people want to see. If Disney wants to keep people happy and interested in their product (as well as people seeing them in a favorable light), they will release Black Widow on Christmas in some way, shape or form...Disney+, VOD...it doesn't matter. I mean, come on, Black Widow would be an amazing Christmas gift!
Until Disney makes a good decision and does this (which they probably won't), Warner Bros. (and by extension DC) are the real heroes of the holidays in the eye's of movie fans.
Until Next Time - Geno
Where You Can Find Me:
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/TheReelOpinion
Twitter: @TheReelGeno
Instagram...not really much there...yet: https://www.instagram.com/thereelgeno/
Twitch...not really much there...yet: https://www.twitch.tv/thereelgeno
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheReelGeno/
Email: thereelgeno@yahoo.com