The live-action MULAN was finally released after a few delays due to the COVID-19 last Friday and while the film didn't get its planned theatrical run, the movie did become the first Premier Access film to be released on Disney+. Premier Access essentially meant that in order to view the film you had to pay a fee of $29.99 on top of your monthly subscription for the streamer and while some have complained about the steep price, it looks like Disney+ still saw an increase in downloads due to MULAN.
According to "Yahoo!", the release of MULAN caused downloads to spike by 68% for the Disney+ app over the weekend. Sensor Tower, which is an app download research firm, was the first to report the increase and they also revealed that consumer spending in the app increased by 193%, most likely due to the film's price that customers had to pay in order to watch the film. For comparison's sake, the release of Hamilton! back in July caused a 79% spike in downloads but it's no surprise that theirs was higher due to the popularity of Hamilton! and the simple fact that customers didn't have to pay an extra fee to watch it.
MULAN will be available to stream for free with your Disney+ subscription beginning on December 4, 2020. Even though that's only three months from now, it looks like families did splurge on the price to watch the film over the weekend. Good reviews did help as the live-action take on the 1998 animated film did score a 77% fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes but it remains to be seen if people liked that they saw. The film has a 55% audience score on Rotten Tomatoes and that could be because there's no talking dragon and no songs or because of the alleged review bombing the film is receiving due to controversy with the film's lead and its filming location. Whatever the case, MULAN was very much a part of the conversation and even though we don't have the exact numbers on well it did from Disney+ just yet, I'm sure it was a top choice for families that wanted to stay at home and watch something new. This marks that second big release that Disney has decided to send to their streaming service instead of a theatrical run after ARTEMIS FOWL, which hit the streamer earlier this summer.
The live-action MULAN tells the story of a young Chinese woman who decides to disguise herself as a man n order to protect her father from serving in a war that could put his life in danger. Because of her choice, she harnesses her true potential and strength in the process. The film, helmed by Niki Caro, stars Yifei Liu, Donnie Yen, Li Gong, Jet Li, Jason Scott Lee, Yoson An, Tzi Ma, Rosalind Chao, Pei-Pei Cheng, and Xana Tang.
Did YOU watch MULAN over the weekend?