Former Disney CEO Bob Iger has suggested that more of the company’s new movies will be heading straight to Disney Plus instead of getting a box office release. The announcement comes after the company revealed that Artemis Fowl will be streaming exclusively (opens in new tab) on the service later this year, the movie having originally been set to head into cinemas.
Iger has outlined the future approach for Disney Plus in an interview with Barron’s (opens in new tab), including how the spate of coronavirus delays (opens in new tab) has shifted plans slightly for the House of Mouse.
“In terms of movies going ahead after Artemis, there may be a few more that we end up putting directly onto Disney Plus,” Iger said.
Just don’t go expecting larger movies, such as Mulan which is currently mooted for a July release, to take that approach, as Iger revealed: “For the most part a lot of the big tentpole Disney films, we’ll simply wait for slots. In some cases we’ve announced new ones already, but later on in the calendar.”
So, what likely candidates could step up and join the Disney revolution? New Mutants is one such project, though could have too much of a hard horror bent to mesh well with the family-friendly image Disney Plus has already cultivated.
Beyond that, Pixar’s Soul is too much of a possible money-spinner to drop. A likely candidate is The One and Only Ivan, an August-bound adventure starring Bryan Cranston and *checks notes* Sam Rockwell voicing a gorilla.
Whatever follows in Artemis Fowl’s footsteps, however, could mark a new chapter in how we watch movies from the comfort of our own homes – on day one, no less.
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