Disney CEO: “There’s nothing like The Mandalorian on air”

ANAHEIM, CA - MAY 29: In this handout photo provided by Disneyland Resort, Walt Disney Company Chairman and CEO Bob Iger (R), and Star Wars creator George Lucas pose inside Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run at Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge at Disneyland Park in Anaheim, California, May 29, 2019. (Photo by Joshua Sudock/ Disneyland Resort via Getty Images)
ANAHEIM, CA - MAY 29: In this handout photo provided by Disneyland Resort, Walt Disney Company Chairman and CEO Bob Iger (R), and Star Wars creator George Lucas pose inside Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run at Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge at Disneyland Park in Anaheim, California, May 29, 2019. (Photo by Joshua Sudock/ Disneyland Resort via Getty Images) /
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When Disney+, Disney’s new streaming service, goes live on November 12, it will come complete with The Mandalorian, the very first live-action Star Wars television show. To say we’re excited is an understatement.

Set after the events of Return of the Jedi but before The Force Awakens, the show will explore how the universe is getting on after the fall of the Galactic Empire. Game of Thrones vet Pedro Pascal stars as the title character, a bounty hunter traipsing across the Outer Rim trying to make a buck.

Star Wars fans are very excited for this show, with Disney CEO Bob Iger doing what he can to feed the hype monster. In a recent interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Iger and his team talked up Disney+, which led inevitably towards talk of The Mandalorian. “[There’s] nothing like it on the air, Iger said. “If you’re going to do a live-action Star Wars series, this is the way to do it.”

Hype levels intensified. 

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Disney+ is coming blazing out of the gate with a whole lot of content, all for the comparatively low price cost of $7 per month. That’s all the Marvel movies, all the Star Wars movies, every episode of The Simpsons, and future releases like Frozen 2 and The Rise of Skywalker hitting the service about seven months after their theatrical debuts. “We like the hand we have,” said Disney exec Kevin Mayer. “We’ve collected some of the most preeminent brands in the entertainment sphere and we’re using them aggressively. We have the timing. We have the right price point.”

The service will face competition from the likes of Netflix, Amazon, HBO Max, Peacock, and more, but this is Disney; you know they’ve come prepared. The only concern may be a relative lack of big original content right out of the gate — they’ll have 10 originals on Day 1, withThe Mandalorian being the only tentpole series — but eventually, they hope to have 50 original movies and series a year. “It takes some time to get [the tentpole] shows completed,” said programming and marketing exec Ricky Strauss.

They’re also hoping to pick up between 60 million and 90 million global subscribers by 2024. Here we go.

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