EXCLUSIVE, UPDATED: It’s official. The Disney+ movie, Young Woman and the Sea, is getting a limited theatrical release on May 31. This is after the Daisy Ridley movie tested in the high 90s.
I also hear that the movie will have a marketing campaign tailored to a limited release. Originally, we heard from a non-Disney source that the feature take on Glenn Stout’s novel was going to get a tentpole push.
Anyway, it’s another win for streaming movies heading to the big screen, and studios recognizing the potential for them there first.
EXCLUSIVE, Jan. 26: In an arguable first for a Disney+ movie, Disney is contemplating a theatrical release for the Daisy Ridley starring, Joachim Rønning directed feature take of Glenn Stout’s Young Woman and the Sea after the picture scored in the high 90s.
Deadline is hearing that a May 31 theatrical release date is being eyed with a big global campaign, further boosted by a Summer Olympics 2024 campaign tied to the movie’s Disney+ release over the summer. These dates aren’t ironclad, and could still be flexible. Presumably, talent needs to be looped in on their deals as this film goes from streaming to theatrical.
Recently, another inspiring sports drama from Amazon MGM Studios, George Clooney’s The Boys in the Boat, played to the heart land and grossed $45M+.
When it comes to 2024 and theatrical product — the year can’t have enough. More titles continue to be added, i.e. Universal’s Monkey Man in early April and Amazon MGM Studios’ Blink Twice in late August. If Young Woman and the Sea does open on May 31, it will be the only wide entry that weekend where two moderate releases are booked: Bleecker Street’s Ezra and Lionsgate Premiere’s 1992.
The Jeff Nathanson-scripted drama chronicles the daring journey 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.
The movie also stars Tilda Cobham-Hervey, Stephen Graham, Christopher Eccleston and Jeanette Hain.
Jerry Bruckheimer and Chad Oman are producers. Rønning is directing Disney’s Tron: Ares as we speak. Ridley is in business with Disney again on the next Star Wars sequel.