Disney+ subscribers can watch Mulan for free…in 3 months

Disney raised eyebrows when it decided to release its live-action remake of Mulan straight to streaming…for an extra fee. But now there’s another way…

Movie studios have had a hell of a time dealing with a global pandemic that has shut down many of the world’s movie theaters. Warner Bros is just saying “f**k it” and releasing movies like Christopher Nolan’s mind-binding spy thriller Tenet into whatever theaters will play it.

But Disney has taken a different tack with Niki Caro’s $200 million remake of Mulan, with Yifei Liu as the young Chinese girl who disguises herself as a man to join the war effort. It’s opted to release the movie on its streaming service Disney+ tomorrow…provided subscribers pay an extra $30 for the privilege.

That means that, if you wanna watch the movie, not only do you have to get a $7/month subscription to Disney+, but then pay $30 on top of that. I get that Disney wants to make its money back on the movie, but I also get why that would frustrate subscribers who were under the impression they were going to be able to…stream stuff Disney makes.

And eventually, they will. As Variety reports, subscribers will only have to pay the $30 fee for the movie until November 2, at which point the movie will be unavailable to anyone who hasn’t already paid for it. Then, on December 4, it’ll be available to stream on Disney+ for free…well, free if you factor in the subscription cost you’re already paying.

Yes, it’s a little convoluted, but that’s what the coronavirus has done to the movie industry. Everything’s weird now.

Personally, I think that Mulan looks like one of the more interesting of Disney’s live-action remakes of its animated classics. It’s not a straight adaptation of the 1998 original. It’s more serious, with the musical numbers and the Eddie Murphy dragon sidekick stripped out.

I probably still wouldn’t pay $30 to see it, though. And now, I’m glad to see I won’t have to if I just wait a bit.

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