To be clear: Yes, we still encourage you to enjoy your movies in home security. However, we know it exists some which plans to head to theaters this weekend. If you happen to go to a Cinemark affiliated theater, there’s a movie you won’t see: Disney Raya and the last dragon, to be released worldwide and in Disney Plus on Friday, March 5th.
On Deadline and THAT, Cinemark Theaters has announced its decision to resign Wednesday’s premiere, citing an issue with abrupt Disney licensing conditions in a statement:
“In the current operating environment, we make short-term booking decisions on a discreet, film-by-film basis, focusing on the long-term benefit of exhibitors, studios and moviegoers. While we are in talks with the Walt Disney Company, we have not yet reached convenient licensing terms for Raya and the last dragon. As we continue to work with our studio partners, we remain optimistic that we will reach mutually beneficial conditions that give moviegoers the opportunity to see the line of interesting films in our cinemas. ”
Like other theaters, Cinemark he struggled to regain his footing during the pandemic. Hybrid film launch plans by those like WarnerMedia and Paramount things have become more complicated with shortened theater windows and changing licensing terms – some of which could fall out of a theater company’s small budget. If a studio refuses to budge on its terms, it could lead to more decisions like this – a consequence that means little to a giant corporation like Disney, but could have a greater material impact on a theater chain’s ability to thrive. Disney did not comment on Cinemark’s decision. But like Deadline notes, there is still the possibility that the two sides will reach some kind of common ground in the 11th hour.
Raya and the last dragon plays Kelly Marie Tran, Awkwafina, Daniel Dae Kim, Gemma Chan and Sandra Oh. Here’s what Danette Chavez I had to say in her recent movie review:
Although it was in the production years before the pandemic changed everyone’s way of life, Raya and the Last Dragon really feels like the first Disney blockbuster of the COVID era. Accidentally or not, this lavish animated production resonates with the collective pain of the world in which it is released, inviting everyone to stay with that pain, even if it suggests brighter days. Directed by Don Hall and Carlos López Estrada, along with co-directors Paul Briggs and John Ripa, the film is another Disney princess story (with the nods for a Disney acquisition). But with its palette off and the infusion of Southeast Asian cultures, Raya also brings some innovation in this context, while raising some of the questions we’ve all been asking ourselves as rates infection and death toll rose: How did I get here? And how do we find our way out?
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