Eternals: Marvel’s Kevin Feige won’t confirm if the film will release exclusively in theaters

Marvel head honcho Kevin Feige is being very coy about whether or not the November release of Eternals will be getting an exclusively theatrical or hybrid streaming release on Disney+. Disney did a hybrid release with Black Widow that has led to a lawsuit being filed by the film’s star, Scarlett Johansson, for breach of contract while the September release of Shang-Chi and The Legend of The Ten Rings is said to have an exclusive theatrical run. With the pandemic still a major factor in the marketplace due to the surging Delta Variant, it seems like Disney could be willing to pivot to a hybrid release if it looks like the audience is reluctant to come out to the movies.

Feige’s response on the matter was pretty short but it really does indicate that this can go either way. During an interview with “Variety”, via Total Film, at the Shang-Chi premiere on Monday, Feige was asked what kind of release Eternals would see when it opens in November and the Marvel boss responded by saying “we will see.” Feige said that a theatrical release would be the “preference” of both he and director Chloé Zhao but he did not commit to a definite answer in regards to release strategy.

It seems that a lot will be determined by the opening of Shang-Chi and The Legend of The Ten Rings. The film is respecting the theatrical window by not also going streaming while playing in theaters so its opening weekend is going to be the laser focus of Disney and rival studios that also want to see a theatrical-only release prove to be successful because it would be potentially good news for their other releases as well. Early box office predictions for Shang-Chi suggest the film could have the lowest opening weekend for an MCU film since The Incredible Hulk in 2008, with about $35-55 million. These figures came out before early reaction to the film dropped this morning which has been very positive so this could increase the figure in tracking as the film heads to its September 3 release date.

Directed by Nomadland Oscar winner Chloé Zhao, Eternals will focus on a species of immortal aliens from a distant planet who arrived on Earth thousands of years ago and have been protecting humans since the dawn of time. The Eternals were created by Celestials, a race of powerful extraterrestrial beings who have secretly lived on Earth for over 7000 years. In order to protect Earth, The Eternals must reunite to protect humanity from their evil counterparts. The film stars Angelina Jolie, Gemma Chan, Salma Hayek, Kit Harrington, Richard Madden, Kumail Nanjiani, Ma Dong-Seok, and Brian Tyree Henry.

Do YOU think Eternals will release exclusively in theaters or will it see a hybrid streaming release similar to Black Widow? As it stands, Eternals hits screens on November 5, 2021.