December 11 (The Verge) – Disney has announced that it will bring a lot of original content directly to its Disney Plus streaming service over the next few years. The company is bringing “roughly” 10 Marvel series; 10 Star Wars series; 15 Disney live-action, Disney Animation, and Pixar series; and 15 all-new Disney live-action, Disney Animation, and Pixar features to Disney Plus.
The commitment to launch so many shows directly on Disney Plus speaks to Disney’s confidence in the service in the long term. Disney announced that Raya and the Last Dragon will debut on Disney Plus as a Premier Access title the same day it hits theaters on March 5th, 2021. The company dipped its toes in launching directly on Disney Plus with the premiere of the live-action remake of Mulan in September, and Pixar’s Soul is set to premiere on the service on December 25th. The news also follows WarnerMedia’s bombshell announcement that it would be bringing all of its 2021 films to HBO Max the same day they premiere in theaters.
Disney Plus launched just over a year ago, and it already has more than 86 million subscribers, a figure the company also announced on Thursday. That growth has been in part fueled by the success of the mega-hit The Mandalorian, a series airing only on Disney Plus that is currently in its second season.
