With a new release date for Mulan on Disney Plus, and a surprisingly high price, Disney created a new path for selling its biggest movies while the COVID-19 pandemic keeps theaters closed.
On an earnings call today, we found out that Disney's new live-action Mulan film will arrive on Disney Plus on September 4, for $30 on top of a regular subscription fee. Oh, and the film will also be available in theaters on that same day — if you have any that re-opened near you, that is.
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The idea of paying for a PPV or movie on top of your existing Disney Plus subscription may sound surprising or alarming — imagine how much your bill could skyrocket from its neat little $7-per-month price — but Disney's had the ability to do this all along.
That's because the company also owns ESPN Plus, which sells UFC PPVs. Those streams cost a lot more than $30.
The Verge reports that, on the earnings call, Disney CEO Bob Chapek said, "We thought it was important to find alternative ways to bring [Mulan] in a timely manner."
This could be the release method that Disney uses for its other two huge movies, Black Widow and The New Mutants, which are due out on November 6 and August 28, respectively.
September 4 is Mulan's fourth, and apparently final, release date. It was supposed to arrive on the big screen on March 24, but COVID-19 arrived earlier, closing theaters around the world. Mulan's other release dates, July 24 and August 21, are now seen as signs of Disney's former optimism that we'd be out of this situation early.