Walt Disney wants to release more series on his stream service based on his Marvel and Star Wars film series. Of both franchises, ten new series are to be published in the next few years on the video platform Disney+, with which the entertainment group launched an attack on market leader Netflix a year ago.
Disney presented investors with his strategy for the coming years. The plans for its streaming services will receive special attention. To attract and retain more subscribers, Disney wants to see new series or films on Disney+ every week. In addition to the dozens of new Marvel and Star Wars series, a further 15 animated films and 15 animated series from Disney and its subsidiary Pixar are to be released on the platform.
Disney+ was also able to provide strong growth figures over the past few months. Since October, 13 million new subscribers have been added, bringing the total to almost 87 million users. Together with customers of online sports channel ESPN+ and subsidiary Hulu, the total comes to 137 million streaming customers for Disney.
Disney’s future plans are closely monitored by the cinema industry. Forced closure of film halls due to the pandemic threatens to speed up the already initiated shift from films to online platforms. Movie Studio Warner Bros. announced last week, in the coming year, that all new films would be released simultaneously in film halls and on online platform HBO Max. This led to shocked reactions from American cinema chains, because they fear that they will lose a lot of revenue if films are not first seen exclusively in the cinema.
Disney announced on his investor day that most of his most important films will be in the cinema first for the time being before coming to Disney+. However, certain films, such as the animation epic Raya and The Last Dragon, will be shown on Disney+ and in cinemas on the same day.
