This year, Disney has a much lighter theatrical release schedule than we’ve seen in previous years, and for the first time, Disney is looking to release an upcoming Disney+ Original film, “Young Woman And The Sea”, in cinemas first.

According to Deadline, Disney wants to release “Young Woman And The Sea” in cinemas on May 31st, 2024, with a full global campaign and a plan to release the film on Disney+ in the summer, during the summer Olympics.   It’s important to note that Disney hasn’t officially announced that it is planning on doing a theatrical release with “Young Woman And The Sea”.

The film tells the story of the first woman to ever swim across the English Channel. Gertrude “Trudy” Ederle made the 21-mile swim in 1926. The daughter of a German butcher from Manhattan, Ederle was a competitive swimmer who won gold in the 1924 Olympics when she decided to attempt crossing the channel. She undertook the feat after first swimming 22 miles from Battery Park in New York to Sandy Hook, NJ, setting a record that stood for 81 years. She contracted with two newspapers and sold her story, thereby financing her quest. There was actually a race among women who would be first to cross, as only five men had done so before.

This new film stars Daisy Ridley in the main role, and it also stars Tilda Cobham-Hervey, Stephen Graham, Christopher Eccleston and Jeanette Hain.   “Young Woman And The Sea” has been directed by Joachim Rønning, who has recently started filming the new “Tron” film.  Jerry Bruckheimer and Chad Oman are producing the film.

With Disney looking to maximise its profits, as with other studios like Warner Brothers Discovery, Disney is slowly moving away from releasing films directly onto streaming services, instead opting to release films in cinemas.  

While Disney has made this move in the past with the Hulu Original film, “The Boogeyman”, we will likely see Disney releasing more of its films in cinemas first since there are many advantages in doing so, especially on a lower budget film like this.  Already twice this year, two smaller Hulu Original films have had very limited theatrical runs, so it’s likely this will continue to happen more often.

Generally, a theatrical release is going to bring in real money and also movies generally have better viewership if they are released in cinemas, as audiences think a theatrically released film is better than a straight-to-streaming movie, and usually, theatrical releases have a large advertising budget.

Do you think it’s a good idea for Disney to release “Young Woman And The Sea” in cinemas first?  Let us know on social media!

Roger Palmer

Roger has been a Disney fan since he was a kid and this interest has grown over the years. He has visited Disney Parks around the globe and has a vast collection of Disney movies and collectibles. He is the owner of What's On Disney Plus & DisKingdom. Email: Roger@WhatsOnDisneyPlus.com Twitter: Twitter.com/RogPalmerUK Facebook: Facebook.com/rogpalmeruk

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