According to French law, the company’s streaming platform Disney + would have to wait 17 months to show the film after it had its cinema premiere.
Disney tells AFP that they will instead let “Strange world” go directly to Disney + and skip the cinemas completely, which is confirmed by the entertainment site Deadline and the French magazine Les Echos.
Helene Etzi, CEO of Disney in France, tells Les Echos that France’s rules are “unfair, restrictive and ill-adapted to the demands of the public.”
No Christmas movie
The fantasy adventure “Strange world”, directed by Oscar winner Don Hall and with Jake Gyllenhaal in the lead role, will have its international cinema premiere in November.
France has previously tried to prevent streaming platforms from undermining the country’s large cinema network, and the National Federation of French Cinemas says it is “vigorously protesting” against Disney’s desire to deprive the French of their animated Christmas film.
The debate over how long to wait between cinema and streaming has also erupted in Hollywood. Last year, Scarlett Johansson sued Disney for lost income after they released “Black Widow” at the same time in cinemas and streaming services.
Cruise dissatisfied
Director Denis Villeneuve said when Warner Bros. did the same with his sci-fi blockbuster “Dune” that the company showed “absolutely no love of film”.
After trying different strategies after the pandemic, the American film industry has decided on 45 days as the optimal gap.
But a 45-day window is reportedly not enough for Tom Cruise, who is said to have taken legal action against Paramount to get a longer delay for his next “Mission: Impossible” film next year.