Either way, RAYA's opening is way down from TOM AND JERRY even with NYC theaters "back online". RAYA is, like MULAN, available to stream for an additional $29.99 (then again, TOM AND JERRY is also on HBO Max for no additional premium). Granted it doesn't look very appealing, but it's another animated Disney movie with their brand slapped on it.
https://deadline.com/2021/03/raya-and-t ... 234708406/Even though these numbers on Raya aren’t as robust (for the pandemic) as we saw yesterday, the release is striking plenty of fear for rival distributors and for exhibition; particularly after Disney CEO Bob Chapek’s recent remarks Monday at a virtual investment conference hosted by Morgan Stanley in which he said things like “The consumer is probably more impatient than they’ve ever been before” and that given how the pandemic has brought a number of movies into the home, he’s not sure “there’s going back” to the way business was done prior.
Even though Chapek said, “We certainly don’t want to do anything like cut the legs off a theatrical exhibition run,” many are concerned all of this is code for Disney moving forward with their theatrical day and date Disney+ model; and that Black Widow may emulate the same distribution path as Raya on May 7.
Keep in mind that even if Los Angeles is reopened by then, and auditorium capacity restrictions ease, Disney still needs the rest of the world to move ahead with Black Widow and make the $1 billion grossing film that everyone wants to see, that is it for the title to remain a pure theatrical release.
