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Mulan on Disney Plus: Everything you need to know
The coronavirus outbreak of 2020 has caused tons of changes in everyone’s lives. That definitely includes the movie industry. Film studios were forced to push back nearly all of their planned films starting in mid-March 2020 as theaters shut down worldwide. A few of those movies found their way to digital film stores and streaming services over the spring and summer. However, the vast majority are still heading to theaters eventually. Disney, though, did something a bit different with one of its planned theatrical films. It released one of its biggest movies, Mulan, on Disney Plus, but also released it to movie theaters in certain countries.
At first, subscribers for the streaming service had to watch Mulan on Disney Plus for an additional fee. However, that’s no longer the case. You can now watch the film on the service at no additional cost. You can sign up for the service, at $7.99 a month, at the link below.
What is Mulan, anyway?
The 2020 version of Mulan is an adaptation of Disney’s 1998 animated film of the same name. Both movies are based on The Ballad of Mulan, from Chinese folklore. The 2020 version takes place in China nearly 2,000 years ago. The movie begins with the Emperor of China ordering that one male in a family must join the country’s army to fight off an enemy force. One family only has an old and frail patriarch, so his daughter, Hua Mulan, poses as a male and joins the Imperial Army to help fight off the invaders.
Liu Yifei plays the title role of Mulan, while well-known actors Donnie Yen, Jason Scott Lee, Jet Li, Gong Li, and others are in the film as well. Niki Caro directed the movie, which was shot in New Zealand and China with a reported budget of about $200 million. While the 1998 Mulan animated movie was also a musical, the 2020 version will be a traditional action-adventure movie. Instrumental versions of the original film’s songs will be in the remake. One of the songs, Reflection, will be in the movie’s end credits, as sung by Christina Aguilera.
The film was all set to be released to theaters on March 27, and it already had its world premiere event in China. However, the coronavirus outbreak caused movie theaters to shut down a couple of weeks before Mulan’s scheduled release. Disney rescheduled the film three times before finally settling on its Disney Plus release plans.
Where will the movie be available on the service?
The movie is now available on Disney Plus for users in the United States, Canada, New Zealand, Australia, and many western European countries.
How much does it cost to watch Mulan on Disney Plus?
Previously, the movie was only available on the service if you paid an additional $29.99 for “Premier Access”, on top of the normal Disney Plus monthly fee. Now, Mulan on Disney Plus is available without that extra Premier Access fee. By the way, the movie also supports UHD, HDR, and Dolby Audio if you have the hardware and software that supports those features.
Is this the start of a trend that will see more major theatrical films appearing on Disney Plus?
Disney claimed at first that this release of Mulan on Disney Plus via Premier Access was a “one-off” due to the current coronavirus situation. However, the company is doing this business model again for another major film. The animated movie Raya and the Last Dragon was released on Disney Plus March 5 for the $29.99 “Premier Access” fee in the countries where the service is available. The movie, which is also based on Asian legends, will be released in theaters in Asia as well. Three more movies (Cruella, Black Widow, and Jungle Cruise) will be released via the same business model.
That’s all we have on Mulan on Disney Plus. Again, you can sign up for the service at the link below: