Today brought major news for Disney fans as it was announced that Mulan will be released on streaming in September, at the premium price of $29.99. This appeared to set a major precedent for the studio’s release schedule moving forward. For months, it’s been wondered whether both Mulan and Black Widow would be dropped on Disney Plus. Now we know that that’s the case for one of them, all eyes are on Scarlett Johansson’s Marvel movie.
We’ve got confirmation from Disney CEO Bob Chapek, however, that it’s not currently the Mouse House’s plan to replicate Mulan‘s release model with Black Widow. Speaking during the studio’s quarterly investment call, Chapek labelled the live-action remake’s D+ debut a “one-off” and something that they’re not anticipating repeating with future films at this time.
“We are looking at Mulan as a one-off as opposed to saying there’s a new business windowing model we are looking at,” Chapek explained.
Of course, all this could change if home audiences lap up the chance to watch Mulan via streaming and it makes a ton of cash. Still, at present, we shouldn’t be expecting BW to come out the same way. Disney will always prefer a theatrical release if they can help it, so it seems like the aim is for it to hit cinemas this November, as has been the intention since Marvel shuffled along all of their Phase 4 productions back in April.
Whether the health crisis has abated enough to make visiting the cinema a regular activity again by then, though, we just don’t know at this stage. Many fans have obviously been crying out for Disney to simply release Black Widow online rather than delay it. Even star David Harbour has called for this outcome. But for now, we’ll just have to see how well Mulan performs on Disney Plus next month and go from there.
