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As I speculated a few months back, Jeffrey Wells over at Hollywood Elsewhere has the exclusive scoop that Disney may be pulling “Mulan” from theatrical distribution and, instead, releasing it straight to their streaming platform Disney+
“If Los Angeles and NY further spike with the virus, Tenet will move to October to take WW84’s place, and that will move into next year, probably March. Mulan may end up going to Disney Plus. I heard this from a friend who’s with a big theater chain. It’s what he’s been told.”
If “Mulan” is indeed going straight to Disney+ then that puts all the pressure right back at Christopher Nolan’s “Tenet,” which is set to be released in theaters on July 31st. WIll the WB follow Nolan’s orders and just release the damn thing? Or will they go against their boy wonder and delay it until further notice?
If “Mulan” does indeed go direct-to-streaming then we will no doubt be witnessing the breaking of a dam, as other studios will follow suit, and theater chains will falter to the brink of extinction. That’s what’s on the line here: the theatrical experience. Unlike the threats AMC and Regal exclusively aimed at Universal for having “Trolls World Tour” and “King of Staten Island” skip theaters in favor of VOD, they will be left powerless in the face of Disney - threatening to boycott a studio that gives you almost half of your yearly earnings is the definition of economic harakiri.