‘Mulan’ is set to head straight to Disney+.
As per Variety, Disney has decided to skip a theatrical release and make the delayed live-action remake of the classic available on the streaming service for a premium rental price.
The flick will be available from September 4, however, US viewers will have to pay an extra $29.99 to watch the movie, that’s on top of their monthly subscription of $6.99.
Disney’s CEO Bob Chapek has explained the "one-off" decision.
Speaking during an earnings call this week, he said: "We’re pleased to bring ‘Mulan’ to a consumer base that’s been waiting for it as we’ve had to move our (release) dates several times …We’re looking at Mulan as a one-off as opposed to trying to say that there’s a new business windowing model."
On why they added the extra price to view the film, Capek explained: "As you know it’s fairly expensive to produce for consumers the quality we’re known for. Rather than simply rolling (the movie) into a free offering, we thought we can test anything when you have your own platform. We’re trying to establish a new premiere access window to capture that investment we got (in the film). We’ll have a chance to learn from this. From our research under a premiere access offering, not only does it get us revenue from our original transaction of PVOD, but it’s a fairly large stimulus to sign up for Disney+."
However, countries were Disney+ isn’t available will get a theatrical premiere.
Amid the coronavirus pandemic, ‘Mulan’ was removed from the release schedule completely after so many setbacks.
It was initially set to be released on March 27, but the health crisis meant the movie’s cinematic release had to be pushed back.
Disney said in a statement at the time: "As you know this has been a rapidly evolving situation and we wanted to make you aware that we are postponing the releases of ‘Mulan’, ‘The New Mutants’ and ‘Antlers’ out of an abundance of caution.
"We truly believe in the moviegoing experience, and we are looking at new potential 2020 release dates to be announced at a later date."
In March, the UK premiere of the movie had been scaled back, although a screening went ahead with stars such as Liu Yifei and Jet Li present.
On social media, director Niki Caro said: "Our hearts are with everyone the world over who is affected by the virus, and we hope that Mulan’s fighting spirit will continue to inspire those who are working so hard to keep us all safe."