The online release of Mulan is expected to bolster the company’s position in streaming after preliminary data from researchers suggested that that the animation movie helped spur downloads of the Disney+ app. Deutsche Bank AG upgraded Disney to a buy recommendation from a hold, citing its streaming prospects.
Mulan, a live-action remake of the 1998 animated hit, was released online last week after the pandemic prompted Disney to scrub its US theatrical rollout. To see the film, customers of its $7-a-month Disney+ service have to pay an additional $30 — an approach the company hasn’t attempted before. Disney is releasing the film in theatres in countries that don’t have the streaming platform.
Installations of the streaming app rose 68% to 890,000 over the weekend, according to Sensor Tower Inc, a sign Mulan drove new customers to the service. Dollars spent on the app climbed 193% to $12mn compared with a week earlier, the research firm found.
Mulan was the most-watched movie online over the weekend, according to the streaming platform Reelgood, which has 2mn customers. It accounted for 15% of streams for the top 20 titles on the platform, compared with 9.1% for the No 2 film, I’m Thinking of Ending Things.
Mulan is a high-profile test of whether movie fans are willing to pay up to get new films online - an approach called PVOD, or premium video on demand. The Covid-19 crisis, which shut down theatres around the world, has prompted Hollywood studios to experiment with different PVOD strategies. Comcast Corp’s Universal Studios made its Trolls World Tour film available online in April for a $20 fee.
“The release of Mulan in PVOD this past weekend should serve as an early proof point with respect to PVOD,” Bryan Kraft, an analyst at Deutsche Bank, said in his report upgrading the stock.
Disney has said that the Mulan release was a one-time event prompted by the pandemic. But it shows Disney could do more with premium video, Kraft said.
“Disney could even offer a ‘new release’ tier on Disney+ that gives subscribers access to all new releases for a premium price,” he said. And as Disney+ adds more subscribers – and raises monthly rates – it may become feasible to release new movies on the platform without special fees, he said.
This approach is more economical than releasing movies through third parties because “Disney keeps more of the revenue, captures the data and adds value to the overall Disney+ subscription,” he said.
In July, Disney put Hamilton — a filmed version of the Broadway show — on its streaming service at no additional cost. Hamilton generated a 79% or one million increase in week-over-week app downloads the weekend it was released, Sensor Tower said.
Apptopia Inc, another market researcher, put the number of downloads this past weekend at 674,000. About two-thirds of them came from the US.
The numbers only reflect downloads from the Apple Inc and Google online stores and not other ways that customers could subscribe to Disney+ and purchase Mulan, such as through devices from Roku Inc and Amazon.com Inc And a download doesn’t necessarily turn into a sale or new customer.
It may take longer to get a complete picture of how Mulan did. Disney isn’t expected to immediately release purchase numbers.