Mulan will become available to all Disney+ subscribers in December

Disney+ subscribers who don’t want to pay a premium fee to stream Mulan when it premieres on September 4 will be able to watch the film this December.

Disney’s new live-action feature film adaptation of the animated classic Mulan will officially arrive on Disney+ on September 4. But, there’s a catch: The film will stream as a special premium offering, with an additional $29.99 fee added to users’ monthly $6.99 subscription cost.

Many fans, of course are unhappy about the premium pricing, which is on the higher end of most VOD offerings. But others are excited to get the chance to help support the film, and to still be able to do so safely in these difficult moviegoing times. (Thanks for nothing, coronavirus.)

But, for Disney+ subscribers who don’t want to pay an extra fee to stream Mulan this month, it turns out you won’t have to wait that long to see the film for yourselves.

According to entertainment website The Verge, the film will become available for all Disney+ users in December. Per a new description on the Mulan landing page on Disney+, it will release to all subscribers on December 4, 2020.

If this is true – and there’s every reason to believe that it is – this is a tremendously short window between the film’s theatrical opening and its streaming release. (One of the shortest in Disney history, most likely!) Most films tend to stay in theaters for 6-8 weeks during their initial release windows, before migrating to DVD and streaming platforms many months after they’ve stopped playing at the local multiplex.

But, like everything else in a post-COVID-19 world, the times they are a-changing. Mulan was originally supposed to be released on March 27, 2020, and its premiere date was pushed back several times over the summer before Disney ultimately decided on the premium VOD route.

The House of Mouse is hardly the only company still figuring out the best ways to adapt to this new reality in which movie theaters are still running at reduced capacity – when they’re open at all. Whether the performance of Mulan will have any bearing on what the company decides to do with any of its other still in-limbo summer releases, such as Black Widow, is yet to be determined.

What do you think of Disney’s release strategy for Mulan? Will you be watching the film when it comes to Disney+? Share your thoughts in the comments below!