While box office projections are always a guessing game, general uncertainty caused by the spread of the coronavirus (and the subsequent closing of public events) is making the movie forecasting business even less predictable. Movie prognostication is probably pretty low on your list of coronavirus concerns, but it does show how the disease's spread will impact potential entertainment options heading into the summer months. After all, the closings make it seem like it will be the general theme for the foreseeable future.
On that note, Disney has delayed Mulan in China, and closed down some of their theme parks there too, out of fear of spreading the virus amongst their movie-going audiences and employees.
But for now, despite ongoing speculation, that's not the plan for (another) one of their blockbusters, specifically the soon-to-arrive Black Widowmovie. That movie still projects to do quite well, with Box Office Propegging their domestic opening at anywhere between $90-$130 million.
That site admits that the unknown climate created by the impact of COVID-19 has made "tracking and forecasts more wide-ranging than usual." But despite fears, they believe the Marvel Universe will have another blockbuster on their hands when Widow comes out less than two months from now.
As Comic Book notes, if Black Widow were to pull in $130 million in the states, that'd give it a top ten spot when it comes to Marvel releases, sandwiching it between Iron Man 2 ($128.1 million) and Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 ($146.5 million).
They further report that the optimistic $130 million would give the Scarlett Johansson-starring film the third-highest opening for a Marvel debut solo movie, behind Black Panther (at $202 million) and Captain Marvel ($153 million).
Uncertainty at the box office has become a theme since the spread of COVID-19 started making headlines, most notably when the producers of No Time to Die, the 25th James Bond film, pushed that movie's release back from April to November. Other industries have been hit too. Look no further than South by Southwest's cancellation and the NBA openly considering attendance-less games.
For now, Black Widow is scheduled for a May 1 release.
