Disney peers like Warner Bros. have gone all in on streaming this year but the Disney is still sounding tentative about its upcoming films.
Disney CEO Bob Chapek told Bloomberg’s Emily Chang that his company was pleased with how consumers responded to the premium VOD release for “Raya and the Last Dragon” on Disney+. But the studio has some bigger films coming up soon and for now it’s hedging on how it will release them.
“Whether or not [premium access] becomes a big part of our strategy going forward is really going to be up to consumers. They vote with their pocketbooks and they’re going to tell us how they want to watch movies and we’re going to be responsive to the consumer,” he said.
Disney still has a May 7 theatrical release date planned for “Black Widow,” the next big feature from Marvel Studios. The film was originally slated for a 2020 release but was delayed. Chapek said his company is waiting to see how consumers respond as theaters reopen in major cities like New York and Los Angeles before it decides how "Black Widow" will hit the market.
RELATED: Disney+ surpasses 100M global subscribers
“We’ll make the call probably at the last minute on how these films come to market, whether it’s ‘Black Widow’ or any other title,” he said.
Disney+ earlier this month surpassed 100 million global paid subscribers, up from 94.9 million at the end of the previous quarter. The company now expects between 230 million and 260 million Disney+ subscribers globally by 2024, significantly higher than the 60 million to 90 million originally forecast.
Disney is likely leaning on a more consistent inflow of original content rather than premium access releases to drive future growth for Disney+
“The enormous success of Disney+ …has inspired us to be even more ambitious, and to significantly increase our investment in the development of high-quality content,” said Chapek in a statement. “In fact, we set a target of 100+ new titles per year, and this includes Disney Animation, Disney Live Action, Marvel, Star Wars, and National Geographic. Our direct-to-consumer business is the company’s top priority, and our robust pipeline of content will continue to fuel its growth.”