Let’s face it, 2020 has sucked for everyone. Disney has not been immune to the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic. What was originally thought to be a three to four-month stoppage in the film/theater industry has now changed everything about it. Disney has now shown some of its weaknesses during this time. In the beginning, many studios questioned whether to release their scheduled movies on demand instead of waiting for theaters to reopen. Some studios have seen success in this strategy with probably the most successful being Trolls World Tour. Disney had two blockbuster movies set to be released right before the pandemic, Mulan and Black Widow, opting to hold out instead of releasing them on Disney+
The Mulan Gamble
Mulan was set to release shortly after the pandemic forced theaters to close all over the world. This was Bob Chapek’s first real challenge as CEO of Disney. Delay the release date of Mulan hoping theaters would reopen in July/August. Or release it on Disney+ while everyone was in a stay at home order. The decision was made and now Mulan is available to purchase for $29.99. The movie will be at this price point until December 4 when it then will be available for all Disney+ subscribers. Disney is gambling that enough families will pay the up-charge to recover the big budget of the movie. There has been some modest examples of this model working but, in my opinion, Disney waited too long to release Mulan on Disney+.
No Star Wars Celebration Or Major News
Just like every other convention for 2020, Star Wars Celebration had to cancel. With its biggest convention of the year cancelled Disney and ReedPop decided against doing a virtual celebration in which all fans could enjoy something good. Going against what San Diego Comic-Con @ Home and DC FanDome were able to create. Among fans in general, DC FanDome was a major success and great publicity for a studio that had been struggling to create good publicity. With no response during the weekend schedule for Celebration, again another missed an opportunity to create some buzz and positive news around the company.
Check out: Arrowverse Trailer Finally Gives The Arrowverse A Name — And It’s Not Arrowverse
In Disney+ They Stand
Disney has to make a decision about what type of media company it wants to be. It cannot be the king of both the theater industry and streaming industry. With the future of movie theaters reopening to full capacity in doubt until there is a vaccine for Covid-19, it would be smart for Disney to shift towards streaming. Netflix and other streaming services have proven the value of bringing original strong content to their platforms. Even if Mulan doesn’t perform to the expectations that investors like, the company must still take a hard look into what the future of Disney+ will be.
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