Disney has announced that their upcoming live action Mulan will forgo its planned theatrical release – instead, the movie will premiere on Disney Plus.

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Unlike the rest of the content available on Disney Plus, consumers that have access to the streaming service will have to pay a premium price on top of monthly subscription fees.

Due for release on Sept. 4 Mulan will become available for a premium rental price of $29.99 – in markets where Disney Plus isn’t available, Mulan will play in cinemas.

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Disney’s CEO Bob Chapek says Mulan’s big move was a necessary move during the pandemic and won’t be reflective of a new business model for the company.

Chapek said on Tuesday during the company’s earnings call:

“We’re looking at Mulan as a one-off as opposed to say there’s some new business windowing model that we’re looking at”.

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Chapek added that it gives them a chance to “recapture some of our original investment” on Mulan. The movie cost $200 million to produce and many millions more to market and promote on a global scale.

Originally scheduled to open on March 27, Mulan was meant to be one of Disney’s major theatrical releases for the year – the COVID-19 pandemic forced Disney to postpone Mulan’s release multiple times before indefinitely removing it from the release calendar last month.

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The film based on the Chinese folklore “The Ballad of Mulan” and is a live-action adaptation of Disney’s 1998 animated film of the same name.

Directed by Niki Caro, it is the most expensive film ever made by a female director.

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Disney Plus now has over 60.5 million paying subscribers as of last month, just nine months after the launch of the direct-to-consumer streaming platform.

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