Disney just signed a deal with Cineworld to guarantee the placement of Disney movies in Regal Cinemas across the country as they reopen.
The deal also means that Cineworld’s cinemas will be showing Disney’s upcoming Cruella, Black Widow and Jungle Cruise, even despite their day-and-date Disney+ Premier releases. On Thursday, Disney said it will be sticking to a purely theatrical window for some of its upcoming features, including a 45-day period for 20th Century Studios’ Ryan Reynolds-starrer Free Guy (which starts global rollout in early August) and Marvel’s Shang-Chi And The Legend Of The Ten Rings (which begins in early September). That 45-day window would apply to both the U.S. and the UK, we understand.
In comparison, Cineworld’s deal with Universal that was reported on Thursday will be for a 17-day exclusive window in theaters in the U.S., after which Universal will have the option to make a film available as a premium video on-demand offering. If a film earns an opening weekend of more than $50 million, the theatrical exclusivity period will be extended to 31 days. In the U.K. however, theatrical exclusivity will be guaranteed for all films for 31 days, with that window extending to 45 days if the film reaches an agreed-upon opening weekend benchmark.
Cineworld now has deals in place with Disney, Universal and Warner Bros, with which they have 45 days of theatrical exclusivity in Regal locations starting in 2022. The company is also in talks with other studios about their own windowing terms.
Cineworld’s Regal chain began reopening in April in the U.S., and its UK cinemas will resume operations from next week.