“Black Widow” is the first Phase 4 film of the MCU and the first solo film for Scarlett Johansson in this franchise.
So let’s dive into some trivia and facts about the new film.
- Black Widow is a 2021 American superhero film
- It is based on Marvel Comics featuring the character of the same name
- Produced by Marvel Studios
- Distributed by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures
- It is the 24th film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU)
- The film was directed by Cate Shortland
- From a screenplay by Eric Pearson
- In the film stars Scarlett Johansson as Natasha Romanoff / Black Widow alongside Florence Pugh, David Harbour, O-T Fagbenle, Olga Kurylenko, William Hurt, Ray Winstone, and Rachel Weisz
- The new film is set after the events of Captain America: Civil War (2016)
- The film sees Romanoff on the run and forced to confront a conspiracy tied to her past
- Development of a Black Widow film began in April 2004 by Lionsgate
- With David Hayter attached to write and direct
- The project did not move forward
- The character’s film rights reverted to Marvel Studios by June 2006
- Johansson was cast in the role for several MCU films beginning with Iron Man 2 (2010)
- Then, she began discussing a solo film with Marvel
- Work began in late 2017, with Shortland hired in 2018
- Jac Schaeffer and Ned Benson contributed to the script before Pearson was hired
- Filming took place from May to October 2019 in Norway, Budapest, Morocco, Pinewood Studios in England, and in Atlanta and Macon, Georgia
- It has been delayed three times from an original May 2020 release date due to the COVID-19 pandemic
- Black Widow premiered on June 29, 2021 at various events around the world
- It was released in the United States on July 9 simultaneously in theaters and through Disney+ with Premier Access
- It is the first film in Phase Four of the MCU
- The film was met with generally favorable reviews from critics
- With praise for the acting performances and action sequences
- In June 2021, Boxoffice Pro projected that Black Widow would earn $65–90 million on its opening weekend
- With a total domestic box office of $155 – 225 million
- The following month, Boxoffice Pro revised their forecast to a $80 – 110 million opening weekend and $205 – 310 million domestic total
- This was due to strong ticket presales and positive critical reception
- Other projections have the film opening between $80 – 90 million domestically
- With $50 million in other territories
- For a $140 million total opening weekend
- Disney is projecting $75 million domestic opening weekend
- Fandango reported that the film has the most ticket presales in 2021
- It has surpassed other MCU films like Doctor Strange (2016) and Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017)
- On review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 80%
- Based on 306 reviews
- With an average rating of 7/10
- The site’s critical consensus reads, “Black Widow’s deeper themes are drowned out in all the action, but it remains a solidly entertaining standalone adventure that’s rounded out by a stellar supporting cast”
- On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 68 out of 100
- Based on 50 critics
- Indicating “generally favorable reviews”
- In June 2021, Shortland expressed interest in directing another film in the MCU
- She opined that a potential sequel to Black Widow would likely revolve around a different character in the lead role since Romanoff is dead in the present-day MCU
- In February 2004, Lionsgate acquired the film rights for Black Widow, and in April announced David Hayter as writer and director of the film, with Marvel Studios’ Avi Arad producing
- By June 2006, Lionsgate had dropped the project and the rights reverted to Marvel Studios
- Hayter and Marvel tried getting another financier to develop the project
- Marvel entered early talks with Emily Blunt to play Black Widow in Iron Man 2 (2010) in January 2009
- But she was unable to take the role due to a previous commitment to star in Gulliver’s Travels (2010)
- In March 2009, Scarlett Johansson signed on to play Natasha Romanoff / Black Widow, with her deal including options for multiple films
- In September 2010, while promoting the home media release of Iron Man 2, Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige stated that discussions with Johansson had already taken place regarding a Black Widow standalone film, but that Marvel’s focus was on The Avengers (2012)
- Johansson reprised her role in that film, as well as in Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014), Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015), Captain America: Civil War (2016), Avengers: Infinity War (2018) and Avengers: Endgame (2019)
- After the release of Age of Ultron, Johansson revealed that the number of films on her contract had been adjusted since she first signed to match the “demand of the character”
- Marvel had not anticipated the audience’s “great reaction” to the character and her performance
- In February 2014, Feige said that after exploring Black Widow’s past in Age of Ultron, he would like to see it explored further in a solo film, which already had development work done for it
- The following April, Johansson expressed interest in starring in a Black Widow film, and said that it would be driven by demand from the audience
- That July, Hayter expressed interest in reviving the project for Marvel, and the following month, director Neil Marshall said that he “would love to do a Black Widow film”
- In April 2015, Johansson spoke more on the possibility of a solo Black Widow film, seeing the potential to explore the character’s different layers as depicted in her previous appearances
- However, she felt that the character was being “used well in this part of the universe” at that time
- While promoting Civil War the next April, Feige noted that due to the announced schedule of films, any potential Black Widow film would be four or five years away
- He added that Marvel was “creatively and emotionally” committed to making a Black Widow film eventually
- Joss Whedon, the director of The Avengers and Avengers: Age of Ultron, said in July 2016 that he was open to directing a Black Widow film
- In October, Johansson discussed the potential film being a prequel, saying, “you can bring it back to Russia. You could explore the Widow program. There’s all kinds of stuff that you could do with it”
- Τhe next February, Johansson said that she would dedicate herself to making any potential Black Widow film
- Due to the development work already done, and the public support for a Black Widow film, Marvel ultimately decided that the best time to move forward with the project would be at the beginning of the “latest phase” of the MCU in 2020
- Feige met with Johansson to discuss the direction of a solo film in October 2017, before Marvel began meeting with writers for the project, including Jac Schaeffer
- As the #MeToo movement began around this time, Johansson wanted the film “to comment on… this incredible movement of women supporting other women, and coming through these shared experiences of trauma on the other side by really coming forward and supporting one another”
- Schaeffer met with Feige again in December, and was hired to write the screenplay by the end of 2017
- Schaeffer and Johansson were set to discuss the direction of the film at the beginning of February 2018
- Marvel began meeting with female directors to potentially take on the project, part of a priority push by major film studios to hire female directors for franchises
- By the end of April, the studio had met with over 65 directors for the project in an “extremely thorough” search
- Ιncluding Deniz Gamze Ergüven, Chloé Zhao, Amma Asante and Lynn Shelton
- Lucrecia Martel was also approached, but was discouraged when told she would not have to “worry about the action scenes”
- She also felt the music and visual effects of Marvel films were “horrible”
- In the following months, a shortlist of 49 directors was made before the top choices of Cate Shortland, Asante, and Maggie Betts met with Feige and Johansson in June
- Mélanie Laurent and Kimberly Peirce were also in the “next-to-final mix”
- Johansson was a fan of Shortland’s previous female-starring film Lore (2012) αnd was the one who approached her about directing the film
- Shortland was hired in July
- Johansson said Black Widow became “more of a reality” during the filming of Infinity War and she was also aware of the character’s death in Endgame
- Knowing this helped inform when Black Widow would take place in the MCU timeline
- Johansson also believed there was “no pressing urgency” to make the film, and that making it when it was, rather than years earlier, allowed the film to be “about real stuff”
- The Hollywood Reporter reported in October 2018 that Johansson would earn $15 million for the film, an increase from the “low-seven figure salary” that she earned for starring in The Avengers
- Chris Evans and Chris Hemsworth each earned $15 million for the third films in their MCU franchises, Civil War and Thor: Ragnarok (2017), respectively
- The pair also earned that amount for co-starring in Infinity War and Endgame
- Despite The Hollywood Reporter confirming these amounts with “multiple knowledgeable sources” for their report, Marvel Studios disputed the accuracy of the numbers, saying that they “never publicly disclose salaries or deal terms”
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