Disney Just Lost an Insane Amount of Money From Black Widow Piracy
January 2022 marks a year since Phase 4 of the MCU kicked off with WandaVision on Disney+. Diving headfirst into streaming after a year with no content was somewhat of a risk, but it wasn't the only one. In July, Disney decided that Marvel's first Phase 4 theatrical film - Black Widow - would be released in theaters and on Disney+ via Premier Access at the same time. The direct pipeline that streaming provides has long intrigued studios; and during the height of the pandemic, it became a means of survival as well as a prime opportunity for experimentation. While Marvel's gamble on Disney+ series paid off, Scarlett Johansson's Black Widow 's dual release did not. ADVERTISEMENT In the weeks following Black Widow 's debut, Scarlett Johansson filed a lawsuit against Disney over the profits handling of the dual release, and Hollywood took notice. Following a bitter, public legal battle, Walt Disney Studios and Johansson reached a ...