Bob Iger hints that more theatrical films could make the leap to Disney+

Last Updated on July 30, 2021

THE COVID-19 pandemic has shut down theaters across the globe, forcing studios to either shift the release dates of their upcoming movies or to find other options. One such option is to debut those theatrical movies on a streaming service, which is what Disney chose to do with ARTEMIS FOWL just last week.

It remains to be seen whether other theatrical films will join ARTEMIS FOWL on the Disney+ streaming service, but while speaking with Barrons, Disney's Bob Iger hinted that more could soon be making the leap.

There are some we’ve decided to put on Disney+. We already announced one, Artemis Fowl, that would have been released in theaters. Others we’ve simply delayed. In some cases we’ve moved things onto Disney+ faster than we would have. Frozen 2 was one of them, but Onward would be the biggest example. It was in theaters when this happened. We moved to a pay-per-view period for a couple of weeks where people could buy it and own it. And then we ended up putting it on Disney+.

"In terms of movies going ahead after Artemis, there may be a few more that we end up putting directly onto Disney+, but for the most part a lot of the big tentpole Disney films, we’ll simply wait for slots," Iger continued. "In some cases we’ve announced new ones already, but later on in the calendar." There are only so many dates on the schedule to go around (November/December is already looking jam-packed), so it's only natural that Disney and the other studios might look at other options for films it already has in the can.

The official synopsis for ARTEMIS FOWL:

Disney’s “Artemis Fowl,” based on the beloved book by Eoin Colfer, is a fantastical, spellbinding adventure that follows the journey of 12-year-old genius Artemis Fowl, a descendant of a long line of criminal masterminds, as he seeks to find his father who has mysteriously disappeared. With the help of his loyal protector Butler, Artemis sets out to find him, and in doing so uncovers an ancient, underground civilization—the amazingly advanced world of fairies. Deducing that his father’s disappearance is somehow connected to the secretive, reclusive fairy world, cunning Artemis concocts a dangerous plan—so dangerous that he ultimately finds himself in a perilous war of wits with the all-powerful fairies.

ARTEMIS FOWL was slated to hit theaters on May 29, 2020, but Disney hasn't yet announced when the film will debut on Disney+.