(Photo: Mulan)
Disney+ subscription members will be able to see “Mulan” first
The highly anticipated live-action “Mulan” has once again forgone its theatrical release. Instead of being postponed indefinitely, Disney has decided to move forward with premiering the film on Disney+ on September 4 for a premium rental price.
The company believes that the release of the action epic will help gain more subscribers. But more than that, the release of the film on Disney+, which was originally intended to debut exclusively in cinemas, will serve as a test case to determine how many people will actually pay the premium rental price.
However, “Mulan” will not be available directly to subscribers; consumers in the United States and other territories will have to pay $29.99. This is in addition to the streaming service’s monthly subscription fee of $6.99. For markets where Disney+ is not yet available, “Mulan” will play in cinemas.
Disney’s CEO Bob Chapek said that the decision to release the film on the Disney streaming service is a “one-off” as opposed to being a “new business windowing model.” Since the closure of cinemas due to the pandemic, Disney has shelved a number of titles and postponed several more due to the ongoing spread of the virus.
The decision to move “Mulan” to Disney+ comes just days after AMC Theatres and Universal announced that they had reached an agreement to debut some movies on home entertainment platforms within 17 days of their theatrical debut. Movie theater chains like Regal and Cinemark were open to the decision despite the fact that it would mean shorter run-times.
Originally scheduled to debut on the big screen on March 27, “Mulan” was meant to be one of Disney’s major theatrical releases for 2020. The studio even held a red-carpet premiere at the Dolby Theater in Los Angeles on March 9.
Unfortunately, industry closures caused by the COVID-19 pandemic forced Disney to postpone the movie’s release. The film has been delayed multiple times before the studio indefinitely removed it from its release calendar.
By: Maytinee Kramer
