With many cinemas still closed around the globe and uncertainly about if people will be willing to take the risk to go to the cinema for any new releases, Disney is trailing out a brand new system for distributing their films.

The live-action remake of Mulan will be coming to Disney+ as part of the “Premier Access” program. This means Disney+ subscribers can pay an additional fee of $29.99 to gain early access to the film, for as long as they are an active member of Disney+.  “Mulan” will be available to all Disney+ subscribers at a later date.

During the last quarterly financial results call, Disney CEO Bob Chapek said the release of “Mulan” on early access, would be a one-off.  However, would Disney develop a whole new feature for the app just for one movie?

According to Murphy’s Multiverse, Disney is planning on releasing more movies via the “Premier Access” as they spoke with the Disney+ Help Live Chat on multiple occasions and was told by one agent  “FOR NOW WE have Mulan, but when time goes by, the premier access WILL BE MORE UPDATED and more movies to watch.”

With a second agent saying “guarantee…that Disney+ will offer more amazing movies”.

I also spoke with a Disney+ Help Desk agent and was told that currently, Mulan is the only film confirmed to be released by the Walt Disney Studios through Premier Access on Disney+.

It’s not a huge surprise to hear Disney would want to offer more films via it’s Premier Access program and there could be a few options available, especially if Mulan proves successful.

Early Access

Disney could release movies via Premier Access instead of being released in cinemas, such as Pixar’s Soul or Marvel’s Black Widow.    Potential 6 months early access before a title becomes available to everyone with a Disney+ subscription, in line with current cinema release schedules.

Home Video Release

Disney could also offer movies via Premier Access at the same time as movies are available to buy on physical media or digitally through other platforms such as iTunes or Amazon.  Potential 3 months early access before a title becomes available to everyone with a Disney+ subscription, in line with current home video schedules.


Existing Contracts

One way Disney could provide access to more titles that can be found on other streaming platforms in the US, is if they are offered at an additional cost.  This could be a way of offering newer 20th Century Studio titles like “New Mutants“ or “Call of the Wild” via a potential contract loop hole.  Potential 18 months early access before a title becomes available to everyone with a Disney+ subscription.


If Disney used these options to offer more titles via Disney+, it wouldn’t take anything away from existing subscribers, as titles would be arriving on Disney+ eventually.  But would provide Disney with an extra revenue source.    Making Disney+ a even bigger gateway into Disney’s library.

It’s important to remember, nothing has yet been officially announced by Disney for any more titles beyond Mulan.

 

Would you like to see more titles available early via Disney+ Premier Access?

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Roger Palmer

Roger has been a Disney fan since he was a kid and this interest has grown over the years. He has visited Disney Parks around the globe and has a vast collection of Disney movies and collectibles. He is the owner of What's On Disney Plus & DisKingdom. Email: Roger@WhatsOnDisneyPlus.com Twitter: Twitter.com/RogPalmerUK Facebook: Facebook.com/rogpalmeruk

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5 Comments

  1. Savage August 15, 2020

    I would love to see “Soul,” “Black Widow,” and “The New Mutants” on Disney+ as a premier access

  2. Jamie M August 15, 2020

    By the way international pricing has started to appear for Mulan (as well as it appearing in app with a premier access label) going to be $35 in Canada and Australia and $40 in New Zealand. You may want to run a story comparing the price in all the regions if you can get the European pricing.

  3. Andrew August 16, 2020

    #SaveMovieTheaters My best friends and I don’t live close to each other. The theaters were always more convenient places to meet at and we miss going to them.

  4. Graig August 31, 2020

    If premier access was an upgraded tier of my current monthly subscription at the rate of ~$30/mo then I'd consider it, but if not, I'll just wait until December to watch it for the $12/mo that I'm already spending

  5. Steven shirey September 4, 2020

    Really Disney you guys are making billions a year now you want to make a premiere access for new movies like Mulan the new mutants most likely all the marvel movies that comes out from now on then for crying out loud then change the price of your service make it a one time price hike and that’s it instead of a extra 30.00 more each time a new movie comes out your greedy company. A lot of us grew up with you guys is that the way you treat your loyal customers. Enough is enough.