Black Panther 2 is set to be the finale of Phase 4, but according to Le Film Francais (via Booska-P), the Marvel movie may miss out on a theatrical release in France due to the country’s complex laws around theatrical releases and streamers.
This is because, following France’s updated ‘Media Chronology’ agreement, French law mandates theatrically-released films to wait 17 months before being released on subscription-based streaming services. This means that if Disney released the superhero movie in theatres, the earliest the company be able to drop the film on Disney Plus is April 2024 — which, in Marvel-years, at least, is a very long time.
In a statement to Film Francais, transcribed by The Direct, a representative for Disney said, “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 isn’t the first time France’s theatrical laws have impacted the release of Disney movies. It was announced in June that Disney’s animated movie Strange World, was going straight to Disney Plus.
In a statement to Variety at the time, Disney said, “While we support French cinema – and have for decades – the new, cumbersome media chronology is anti-consumer, ignoring how behaviour has evolved over the last several years and putting us at increased risk for piracy. We will continue to make decisions on a film-by-film basis and according to each market’s unique conditions.”
It’s worth noting that Strange World was set for a late November theatrical release, while Black Panther 2 is being released as early as November 9 in countries like Italy.
The Digital Fix will continue to cover this story as it develops.