After making its official debut on Sept. 4 on Disney Plus Premier Access “Mulan” is making its way to non-Disney+ subscribers beginning next week.
The hit movie will be available for purchase on Amazon Prime Video, iTunes, Google Play, VUDU, and FandangoNOW beginning Oct. 6. The film will be $29.99, the same as its Premier Access price.
Unlike on Premier Access though, the film will be available to watch as many times as you want without a Disney+ subscription.
The film is currently available now for pre-order in SD, HD or 4K UHD for a limited time only.
On VUDU, pre-ordering “Mulan” on Vudu will get a $3.00 credit towards other movies and TV shows on Vudu upon the film’s release.
Also, earlier today, the film was temporarily available for sale on Disney+ for just $6.99. Whether this was an error, or a sign of what’s to come when it goes to other services next week. We have reached out to Disney for comment.
News that “Mulan” would be hitting Disney+ without a theatrical bow first came out in August. Disney CEO Bob Chapek announced during the company’s Q3 earnings call that the film wouldn’t be included as part of the regular Disney+ subscription, but would launch as part of Disney+ Premier Access. It was later revealed, however, that once you purchase the film, it gets added to your library and you can rewatch as much as you want.
Disney later confirmed in their FAQ that Mulan would be released for all Disney+ subscribers on December 4th. Disney stated that Mulan will be available on Premier Access until November 2nd, and then will be unavailable to purchase until it’s released on December 4th. So the fact that it is available ahead of that date is a bit of a surprise.
When asked about “early readings” on the success of the film, Disney CFO Christine McCarthy said last month, “we are very pleased with what we saw over the 4-day weekend. I’ll leave it at that…we will talk more about that when we release earnings.”
According to an analysis by Samba TV, 1.12 million US households watch the movie over the four-day span, giving a projected $33.5 million domestic opening for Mulan. Samba TV data though is likely underreporting purchases since its focused on Smart TV devices, which users to unlock on another device to stream Premier Access.
McCarthy said the decision to release Mulan via Disney+ was a combination of the fact that theaters are closed in major markets like Los Angeles, New York, and San Francisco, along with people being scared to go to theaters. Across demographics, McCarthy said the company felt that “at best 40%” of people would feel comfortable going to theaters. “But would a family with young kids go? Probable not.”
“Also looking at the price of Mulan, I think some people say, oh my good, it’s $29.99, that’s a lot. but if you have a family of 4, do the math. You don’t have to drive. You don’t have to park. You can make your own popcorn, and you can drink whatever you want to drink. It’s a pretty good deal, and it’s not a rental.”