With ‘Mulan,’ Disney tests new early VOD Model

In another major blow to movie theatres, Disney announced ‘Mulan’ will forgo its planned theatrical release. Instead, the live-action remake is premiering on Disney Plus on September 4 for a premium rental price.

The company believes that the release of the action epic will help drive subscribers while serving as a valuable test case to determine how much of their hard-earned cash customers are willing to part with in order to watch a movie that was originally intended to debut exclusively in cinemas.

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 to rent the movie on top of the streaming service’s monthly subscription fee. In markets where Disney Plus isn’t available, ‘Mulan’ will play in cinemas.

For now, Disney’s CEO Bob Chapek said ‘Mulan’s’ big move isn’t reflective of a new business model for the company — even though it kind of is.

‘Disney is now looking at the film ‘Mulan’ as a one-off as opposed to saying there’s some new business windowing model that we’re looking at’ Chapek said Tuesday on the company’s earnings call.

Disney may be signalling to exhibitors that it’s not turning its back on cinemas and that it will respect their ability to have exclusive access to the studio’s content, but , Disney’s CEO Bob Chapek wouldn’t be so interested in testing the waters if the possibility didn’t exist that the studio would dive back into streaming with some other oft-delayed theatrical release. There’s plenty to pick from on that score. Disney has shelved a number of buzzy titles since the pandemic shuttered theatres. Tellingly, Chapek said that Disney wants to ‘learn from it and see the actual number of transactions’ if those numbers are good, will ‘Mulan’ still be a one-off ?