Editor's take: If nothing else, Disney's willingness to talk about Premier Access numbers for Black Widow (this is the first time they've publicly shared these stats) is interesting. The film and theater industry suffered greatly during the pandemic last year, forcing studios and theater owners to improvise in order to survive. Premier Access is the product of such outside-the-box thinking, and this past weekend's results demonstrate that in-home, on-demand streaming is a viable alternative, should the theater industry continue to struggle.
Marvel Studios' Black Widow made a big splash both at the box office and at home during opening weekend, raking in an estimated total of more than $215 million. But it's the breakdown of that number that is of particular interest.
The Walt Disney Company said the film generated $80 million at the box office domestically and another $78 million at the international box office. An additional $60 million came courtesy of Disney+ Premier Access, the company's premium on-demand offering that allows viewers to watch from the comfort of their home for a one-time fee of $29.99 (on top of the cost of a Disney+ subscription).
Disney noted that Black Widow was the largest domestic box office opening since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic and the largest domestic opening weekend since Star Wars Episode IX: The Rise of Skywalker in December 2019. What's more, it was the highest domestic opening weekend for a Marvel Cinematic Universe origin story behind Captain Marvel and Black Panther.
Doing some quick math, we can determine that an estimated two million users opted to rent Black Widow through Disney+ over the weekend.