Disney will be skipping theaters for the release of the upcoming live-action adaptation of Mulan and will, instead, make the new movie available directly through their Disney+ streaming service. On September 4th, Disney+ subscribers will be able to pay $29.99 for “Premier Access” of Mulan through Google, Apple, and Roku devices, but it doesn’t seem like the same will be possible on Amazon Fire TV devices.
It seems like, yet again, Amazon can’t come to an agreement with a major streaming service over revenue share for in-app transactions. Disney says on their website that “select platforms, including Apple, Google, and Roku” will be able to purchase Mulan and notably excludes Amazon and Fire TV platforms. This likely means that, come September 4th, Fire TV owners will not be able to simply launch the Disney+ app and purchase Mulan, as will be possible on most streaming devices.
Thankfully, however, Mulan will not be entirely blocked from streaming on Fire TV devices. Disney has confirmed to me that if Fire TV owners purchase Mulan through the DisneyPlus.com website or any other supported platform, they will be able to stream the movie through any Fire TV device that supports the Disney+ app. It is only a direct purchase of the movie through a Fire TV device that won’t be supported, not the streaming of the movie itself.
Similarly, the Apple TV app on Fire TV devices still, nearly a year after release, requires Fire TV users to first make purchases on a separate device before being able to stream content. More recently, both HBO Max and Peacock TV must be sideloaded on Fire TV devices in order to access their content. Jumping through these kinds of hoops to access streaming content is, unfortunately, becoming more and more common.
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So the movie isn’t coming to Disney+? You have to pay extra on top of your Disney+ Subscription? I’m confused now… my wife was looking forward to this, but if it’s just another cost on top of a Disney+ Subcription… what’s the point? Just release the 4K Blu-ray…
It will eventually come to Disney+ at no additional cost. The time between now and then, where it will cost an additional $29.99 to view, is a substitute for the theater run it would have normally gotten prior to coming to Disney+.
I agree that it should be released on Blu-ray at the same time, but the rumor is that Disney is no longer releasing anything on Blu-ray. https://thedigitalbits.com/columns/my-two-cents/080720-1600
Yeah, guess I just misunderstood the whole Streaming on Disney+ news. My wife will be very disappointed. Also if true about Disney & Blu-ray… that means I’ll no longer be giving them any money… which is good for me, but has to be crazy for them… I’d have dropped $29.99 instantly for the 4K Blu-ray today…
My worry is Disney eventually going all in streaming, and slowly getting out of physical media altogether. They’ve denied rumors about this, but if ‘Mulan’ on VoD is really successful, I see this happening.
These battles are all about money.
Roku’s business model is that they sell the hardware at or near cost and make their money in other ways. One of those is to charge streaming channels for placement on Roku. Amazon also sells hardware at cost; their model is to use it as a tool to sell you things through Prime, including subscriptions to Prime Channels. They get a cut of what you pay for those.
But new services like HBO Max and Peacock want Amazon and Roku to pay THEM for carriage. That model is like the existing one for cable TV, but completely unlike past deals for inclusion on streaming hardware. Disney and Amazon made a compromise deal where Amazon didn’t get to resell Disney+ as a Prime Channel but also doesn’t have to pay to carry Disney+. The kerfuffle about Mulan further strains the relationship because Amazon sells and rents digital movies, and Disney is blocking them from doing that (and making some money).
I don’t know how all of this will play out. Are people loyal enough to their streaming boxes to stick with them? Do they care enough about the new services to jump ship to different hardware to get them? And there isn’t an abundance of places for people to go; Chromecast is an annoying to use device that is tied to your phone as a UI (though Google is supposed to announce a more user friendly device Real Soon Now), and Apple TV is an expensive box that doesn’t play all that well with non-Apple things. What’s left — buying an Xbox or an NVidia Shield just to use as a streaming device?
Is there some sort of a major update coming to the Disney+ App to account for this “Premier Access Level” to add payment detail and PURCHASE PROTECTION PINS? I currently get Disney+ for FREE through my mobile provider and don’t see any of that.