Disney To Release Mulan On Disney Plus, Bypass Theatrical Exclusivity in the U.S.

In an earnings call with investors, Disney CEO Bob Chapek announced that their upcoming feature Mulan has been pulled from theaters in the U.S. and will instead debut on streaming platform Disney Plus. The film will be available to rent through Disney Plus at a price point of $29.99—in addition to the cost of subscribing to Disney Plus—starting September 4. 

Mulan—a live-action reimagining of the 1998 animated film—was, pre-pandemic, to debut in theaters on March 27 as a key part of Disney’s Q1 release calendar. The film was subsequently moved to July 24, placing it as the second major Hollywood tentpole (after Warner Bros.’ Tenet) to be released to theaters. Tenet and Mulan both proceeded to shift down the release calendar as Covid-19 continued to spread. Mulan was dated for August 21 before Disney removed it from the schedule as part of a wide-raging calendar adjustment that saw major titles (such as the Avatar sequels and a new Star Wars trilogy) get later release dates. Wes Anderson’s The French Dispatch, a Searchlight Pictures release, was removed from the schedule along with Mulan. Today’s announcement has Mulan bypassing an exclusive theatrical release in the U.S. entirely.

By contrast, Warner Bros. has opted for a platform release for Tenet, which will debut in international territories starting August 26. Tenet will debut in certain U.S. cities starting September 3.

Chapek also noted that Disney is still planning to release Mulan in some international markets. He stated that the shift of Mulan to Disney Plus is to be regarded as a “one-off,” rather than an indicator of a “new business windowing model that we’re looking at.”

Disney previously pushed a filmed version of the Tony-winning musical Hamilton, initially scheduled for theatrical release on October 15, to Disney Plus, though unlike Mulan subscribers did not need to pay an additional fee to access it. The Mulan rental fee, per Chapek, indicates an intention on behalf of Disney “to try to recapture some of that investment that we’ve got” in the Disney tentpole.

Disney’s planned theatrical release of The New Mutants on August 28 was not changed in today’s call. With Mulan now bypassing theaters, the second Disney release to release in cinemas in the U.S. is expected to be Black Widow, scheduled for November 6.

The post Disney To Release <em>Mulan</em> On Disney Plus, Bypass Theatrical Exclusivity in the U.S. appeared first on Boxoffice.

from Boxoffice