After delisting Mulan from a potential theatrical run in June, Disney has firmed up its plans for its newest live-action remake. Starting September 4, Mulan will premiere exclusively on Disney+ in various territories, including the United States, Canada, and New Zealand, according to Disney CEO Bob Chapek.

Unlike other Disney+ streaming premieres, however, Mulan will launch with an extra price point on top of the service’s $7/mo subscription rate. Paying Disney+ users in the US will have to fork over an additional $30 for what Chapek described as “premiere access,” which likely equates to a temporary rental of the film instead of full-blown ownership a la platforms like iTunes and Amazon Video. Other territories’ rates have not yet been confirmed. (Chapek took the opportunity to confirm that Disney+’s worldwide subscriber numbers are somewhere near 60.5 million.)

In certain territories that have not yet seen a Disney+ rollout, particularly China, Disney will move forward with a theatrical run of Mulan, which has yet to be given a release date.

The CEO called this move a “one-off” during a conference call with investors on Tuesday. He then insisted that this was not a new business model. Yet Disney already set a similar precedent in 2020 when it moved its big-screen adaptation of the popular Broadway musical Hamilton from a 2021 theatrical run to a Disney+ launch in July 2020. Hence, it remains to be seen whether Disney will continue to commit to its November 2020 launch plans for its next Marvel Studios film, Black Widow (which was previously slated to launch in theaters on May 1). Meanwhile, filmmaker Christopher Nolan’s upcoming opus Tenet continues playing chicken with reopening plans, as it is currently slated to launch in certain territories during August before debuting in North America over Labor Day weekend.

Listing image by Disney

https://arstechnica.com/?p=1696506