Bob Iger, the former CEO and current executive chairman of Disney, recently spoke about the status of film studio's upcoming slate of films, which has seen some dramatic reshuffling in response to the global outbreak of coronavirus.
The most seismic announcement was for Artemis Fowl, which will forgo the movie theaters and head straight to Disney+. But according to Iger, it may not be the last to skip the theatrical experience. "There may be a few more that we end up putting directly onto Disney+," Iger told Barrons. "But for the most part a lot of the big tentpole Disney films, we'll simply wait for slots."
Some of those films that Disney will wait for include its Marvel Cinematic Universe projects. All of the MCU's upcoming releases were pushed back a few months, starting with Black Widow on Nov. 6. It will be followed by The Eternals on Feb. 12, 2021.
Iger also pointed out that there is a middle ground. Some movies will still premiere in theaters but move to the streaming service much sooner than usually expected. Disney did this with Frozen II, which premiered on Disney+ three weeks before it was supposed to, and Onward, which is now available to stream just over a month after opening in theaters.