Mulan will debut on Disney Plus for a $30 fee as studio scraps hopes for theatrical release

Mulan is set to debut next month on Disney Plus for a $30 fee as the studio has scrapped hopes for theatrical release amid the coronavirus pandemic, which has brought Hollywood productions to a halt and shut down theaters.

Disney CEO Bob Chapek revealed the news on the company’s third quarter earnings call Tuesday, saying the company is ‘even more confident about our future’ as Disney Plus has chalked up more 60.5 million subscribers, Variety reported.

‘We’re pleased to bring Mulan to a consumer base that’s been waiting for it as we’ve had to move our (release) dates several times,’ he said, according to Deadline. ‘We’re looking at Mulan as a one-off as opposed trying to say that there’s a new business windowing model.’

The film, starring Yifei Liu, will be put in theaters in markets where theaters are open and Disney Plus is not available, Deadline reported, as piracy concerns had previously clouded the release date.

The streaming would be available ‘in the U.S., Canada, New Zealand, and number of countries,’ Chepak said.

In regards to the fee, the CEO said the company was using the landmark move as something of a trial balloon amid the changing times.

‘Rather than simply rolling [Mulan] into a free offering, we thought we can test anything when you have your own platform,’ he said. ‘We’re trying to establish a new premiere access window to capture that investment we got. We’ll have a chance to learn from this. 

‘From our research under a premiere access offering, not only does it get us revenue from our original transaction … but it’s a fairly large stimulus to sign up for Disney Plus.’