Disney shocked many industry insiders and fans when Disney CEO Bob Chapek announced that the oft-delayed Mulan would finally be released on Disney Plus on September 4.
Viewers will be able to see the 200 million dollar production if they subscribe to Disney+ and pay an additional one time fee of $29.99 to rent/own a digital copy of the movie. Subscribers who pay for Mulan will be able to watch it as many times as they like as long as they continue to subscribe, but any breaks in the subscription service will erase the film from your library.
On a conference call on Tuesday, Disney’s CEO Bob Chapek said that the debut of Mulan on Disney Plus does not signal a shift in their commitment to theatrical presentations, and that “We’re looking at Mulan as a one-off as opposed to saying there’s some new business windowing model that we’re looking at.”
Chapek hopes to recoup much of the production costs of Mulan and hopefully turn a profit and “…act as a fairly large stimulus to sign up for Disney Plus.” The move also allows a little bit of the logjam to move, as Disney has a number of tent pole releases scheduled for the end of the year, into 2021 such as Pixar’s Soul, Jungle Cruise, Black Widow, and The Eternals,
Mulan will cost $10 more than Universal charged for Trolls World Tour and Disney will get all of the profits, unlike Universal which had to split the profits with VOD companies.
It is currently unclear how Disney+ subscribers will order the film on the streaming service.
Stay tuned to Conskipper for more information about Mulan and any other films making the leap from theaters to home viewing platforms in the near future.