More Disney Live-Action Remakes May Go Straight to Disney Plus
A month ago, Disney announced it was making its Disney+ streaming service the “primary focus” of its content. What does that look like? According to a new report, it could mean that Disney begins to shift more and more movies that were originally planned for theaters to its streaming service instead.
Deadline writes that Disney is “looking at launching a number of its upcoming tentpole family films on Disney+.” The titles include the live-action version of Peter Pan, directed by David Lowery, Pinocchio, starring Tom Hanks and directed by Robert Zemeckis, and Cruella, starring Emma Stone as a younger version of the 101 Dalmatians villain. The post does admit that a final decision has not been made yet:
The studio is looking at every option, and everything is under consideration and contingency planning, as Disney makes plans to lean in heavily on its direct-to-consumer initiative and towards continuing to build the juggernaut Disney+, whose subscriber numbers brightened up a last quarter that would otherwise have been bleak because of the wallop that theme parks and live entertainment took from the COVID pandemic.
Live-action remakes of cartoons like The Lion King and Aladdin have been among the most dependable box-office hits in Disney’s arsenal in recent years. But the company has also produced remakes expressly for Disney+; like last year’s version of Lady and the Tramp. Earlier this summer, Disney tried releasing the remake of Mulan on Disney+ with a premium fee. Whatever the results, Disney has yet to repeat the experiment. The next big Disney movie premiering on the service, Pixar’s Soul, will come at no additional cost to subscribers.
Right now, the reality is no one knows anything about what the movie industry will look like in a couple years. We don’t know when theaters will be back to normal, and we don’t know how many theaters will still be standing at that time. If the industry recovers quickly, then some of these titles could open in multiplexes after all. If not, the wonderful world of Disney might be one almost completely experienced in your own home for the foreseeable future.
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