The more we learn about Disney’s new streaming TV and movie service, the more ambitious it sounds. Disney CEO Bob Iger told investors on the company’s quarterly earnings call that the service (called Disney+) will host TV shows and movies licensed from other parties in addition to content being made in-house by Disney properties like Lucasfilm and Marvel Studios.
Iger hedged a little in terms of long-term plans, though, saying that the larger strategy is focused on producing original content but that third-party content will be part of the launch strategy later this year. He said that the long-term strategy is “pretty heavily weighted to internally sourced versus externally sourced.”
Referring to the launch window, he also said, “Because we need to launch the service with some volume and it takes time to ramp up, we’re buying certain products from the outside opportunistically.” Disney will additionally tap some of the programming it gained ownership of in its merger with Fox.
According to Iger, Captain Marvel will be the first movie from the company that will stream only on Disney+. Previously, Marvel films have made their way to Netflix. He said every part of Disney is working on content for the service—he specifically named Pixar, Marvel, Lucasfilm, and National Geographic.
Disney has previously announced a live-action Star Wars TV series titled The Mandalorian executive produced by famed director/screenwriter Jon Favreau and Thor: Ragnarok director Taika Waititi. Disney also plans to introduce something based on Pixar’s Monsters, Inc. franchise, a series about Thor’s nemesis Loki, a revival of Star Wars: The Clone Wars, and a High School Musical series.
Disney already runs or has a hand in a couple of other streaming services. With a similar naming convention to Disney+, ESPN+ offers live sports and other athletics-related programming for $4.99 per month. Disney is also a partial owner of Hulu, and the company has alluded to plans to bundle all three service in one package in addition to offering them individually.
Disney will preview Disney+ to investors at a meeting on April 11, but the company has not announced when the service will launch for the public or how much it will cost.
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