The final film for Marvel Studios’ Phase 4 is the MCU’s long-awaited sequel to the 2018 film, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. The film stars Letitia Wright, Winston Duke, and Danai Gurira, the sequel will show how T’Challa’s family and allies struggle to defend their country, Wakanda, and make a new path in the wake of the hero’s death.
This plot is quite unique in that it also mirrors what the actual cast and crew of Black Panther 2 had to go through following the passing of T’Challa’s Chadwick Boseman. However, it seems that the upcoming Black Panther: Wakanda Forever has one more challenge to face thanks to a new international law concerning its theatrical releases.
In a recent report by Le Film Francais via Booska-P, Disney is considering canceling the film’s theatrical release in France. This is due to a French law that requires theatrically-released films to wait 17 months before releasing them on a subscription-based streaming platform. The window to release on a streaming platform for an additional charge, like the Disney+ Premiere Access, is 4 months.
Therefore, it is understood that the purpose of this wide window is to allow free-to-air channels to broadcast programming first. In regards to France’s law, Disney released the following statement which has been transcribed below:
"The media timeline forces us to evaluate our theatrical releases film by film. We have not yet made a decision on the release of Black Panther."
This is not the first time that Disney addressed this particular legislation, and they have already shown that it will cancel a theatrical release as a response to it. Back in June, Disney announced that the upcoming animated movie, Strange World, would not get a theatrical release in France but would be directly added to Disney+.
While the audiences are getting accustomed to shorter theatrical release windows and direct-to-streaming releases, France is one instance of opposition to these new changes in the industry.
Reportedly, those at Pixar are frustrated with Disney cancelling the theatrical releases for its films in favor of Disney+, and several theater chains have expressed concern over the change.
It is also worth noting that the Strange Worlds film was expected to release in France on November 23 while the upcoming Black Panther: Wakanda Forever is set to release in the U.K. on November 11 and in Italy on November 9.
Black Panther: Wakanda Forever is set to be released on November 11, 2022.
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