The live-action remake of Mulan will finally be released for the world to watch — just through a completely different venue than originally expected.
Mulan will be released September 4 on Disney+ for $30, Disney announced, with additional plans to release it in theaters in areas where Disney+ isn’t available. The movie was originally scheduled for a theatrical release in late March, but the coronavirus pandemic delayed it, along with many other major movies.
This will be somewhat new territory for Disney+. While the subscription streaming service has made big waves with recent additions like Hamilton, this will be one of the company’s first motion pictures meant for the big screen that will be sent straight to streaming instead, accompanied by an in-app purchase for a rental of the film.
During the company’s earnings calls, Disney CEO Bob Chapek said the company “thought it was important to find alternative ways to bring this exceptional family-friendly film to them in a timely manner.”
Last month, Disney pushed back the releases of several of its upcoming titles, including the next set of Star Wars movies and James Cameron’s Avatar sequel. The next Avatar movie is now set for Dec. 16, 2022, with the next Star Wars movie scheduled for Dec. 23, 2023.
Interestingly, Black Widow is still slated for a Nov. 6, 2020, typical movie theater release date. The latest entry in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and first since summer 2019’s Spider-Man: Far From Home, had been originally scheduled to premiere May 1.
It seems like Disney may be holding out hope that the spread and continued danger of contracting the coronavirus slows by the fall, though things seem quite unpredictable at the moment. If Mulan does exceedingly well with its streaming debut, it may convince Disney to follow a similar path with Black Widow. As popular as such a move might be among fans, it’s no lock. With as big of a film as Black Widow is poised to be, our guess is Disney will want to make sure this movie hits theaters.
But hey, like we said, these are unpredictable times.
