80% of Disney’s Upcoming Projects Will Debut on Streaming Services First. Here’s Why!

Yesterday, as part of their Investor Day presentation, Disney announced over 100 new titles that would be coming to theaters and their streaming platforms (Disney+, hulu, ESPN+, and their international Star brand) over the next few years.

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During an analyst question and answer session at the end of Investor Day, Disney’s CEO Bob Chapek shared that of those 100 new titles, 80% of them would launch straight to their direct-to-consumer services. That seems like a rather high percentage, especially when you consider how many films were announced yesterday!

An analysts asked for further insight on Disney’s decision making process when it comes to determining which projects get a theatrical release, and which ones go straight to streaming. It was at this point where Chapek revealed that 80% of the titles announced during the presentation would launch first on streaming.

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He shared that in their decision making process, “flexibility is going to be a big dynamic going forward” both during and after the pandemic. The two key factors Disney looks at when making these decisions includes, of course, the pandemic, but also changing consumer behavior overall, even after the pandemic has subsided.

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Chapek pointed out the massive box office success the company saw in 2019 before the pandemic forced movie theaters nationwide to close. Based on the number of films that will still get a traditional theatrical release, Disney clearly hopes to resume more regular theatrical exhibitions soon. However, Chapek noted that by keeping streaming as a primary mode of releasing new titles, they are ensuring that they have an organization that is flexible so they can make these kinds of decisions nimbly.

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Of course, a large number of the titles that were announced yesterday are television series. In fact, Chapek shared that of the new titles announced, 63 of them are series and 42 of them are films. So, naturally those titles would not get a traditional theatrical release like a film would. It’s important to remember too that the 80% figure also includes platforms like hulu and the international Star brand.