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Disney opts for digital-first release of Mulan, shocking cinema owners

Mulan is first blockbuster to go straight to streaming in response to Covid-19 shuttering cinemas

Liu Yifei stars in Mulan, which will now be offered direct to subscribers for $29.99

Published on Wed 5 Aug 2020 16.13 BST

Disney’s decision to bypass cinemas and offer its latest big budget film Mulan directly to streaming subscribers for $29.99 could signal the beginning of the end for the traditional movie-going experience – and forever change the long-established business model underpinning the Hollywood blockbuster.

The surprise move has stunned cinema owners, who had been banking on the film, along with Christopher Nolan’s sci-fi thriller Tenet, to jump-start box office takings as theatre chains struggle to recover from the coronavirus pandemic.

The move is seismic given Disney’s utter dominance of the worldwide box office – the company made a record $13.2bn in ticket sales last year – with cinema owners believing it would be the last Hollywood studio to look at threatening the 70- to 90-day exclusive “theatrical window” they have enjoyed at the top of the pecking order for newly released films before they head to other platforms.

The Hollywood studios have used the pandemic to experiment with more digital-first output, though to date these straight-to-streaming releases have tended to be small to mid-size budget titles, or projects that the studios have lost faith in as potential box office hits.

Mulan, which was expected to be the latest $1bn-plus grossing film from the Disney hit machine, is the first bonafide blockbuster to go digital-first.