Disney announced Mulan will forgo its planned theatrical release. Instead, the live-action remake is premiering on Disney Plus on Sept. 4 for the price of $29.99 (the same in other territories where Disney Plus is available). In markets where Disney Plus isn’t available, Mulan will play in cinemas.
We have introduced Disney Plus in detail in our previous article.
Unlike the rest of the content available on Disney Plus, Mulan won’t be available directly to subscribers. Consumers in the U.S. and other territories will have to pay $29.99 to rent the movie on top of the streaming service’s monthly subscription fee of $6.99. Of course, Disney hopes Mulan will expand its online reach and pull in new Disney Plus subscribers in such a year of fierce competition on online platforms, such as Netflix, HBO MAX, Apple Plus, etc.
Huge discussions have been sparked in the film industry. One owner of a dine-in cinemas chain calls Mulan release on Disney Plus “a death blow to theaters”: “Think about this, every exhibitor has to readjust and start over with everything in their rental deals. If all of the studios are going PVOD, we have to negotiate our terms by occupancy rates; R-rated movies will no longer play at 10 a.m., they’ll play at 7 p.m. and 10 p.m. We’ve just become a destination restaurant that has an upper level of entertainment. If you’re a mall 20-plex theater — you’re toast!”
“$30 is just too much. It’s much more than a movie ticket for one, and is much higher than average prices in North America, even than IMAX.”
Another netizen does the math: “As of 2019, the average movie ticket price is $9.16. The average size of a family is 4 people. $9.16 * 4 = $36.64. In theaters, a family would cost $36.64 w/o tax. On streaming, you are saving at least $6.00, regardless a family of four would have spent on drinks and popcorn.”
Things like this may be normal in the days to come, and such disputes will continue. It may be a trend to own subscriptions of various media platforms since there may still be films that will be shown directly on streaming media service platforms instead of offline theaters.
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