With Theaters Closed, Disney Plus May Premiere More New Movies

The world is changing rapidly, and Disney's business model is no exception. Disney has announced new cinematic release dates for several of its films amid the COVID-19 pandemic, shuffling movies like Mulan and Black Widow to later dates. But with a few releases remaining in limbo or continuing to occupy nearer, more optimistic dates, it's possible that some upcoming films will head straight to Disney's streaming platform, Disney Plus. Now, in an interview with Barron's, Disney executive chairman Bob Iger has opened up about the possibility of moving more films to day one launches on the company's streaming platform.

"There are some [movies] we’ve decided to put on Disney Plus," he says, referencing Artemis Fowl, which was originally planned for a cinematic release, now scheduled to debut on the streaming service in June. "In some cases we've moved things onto Disney Plus faster than we would have," he continues, citing Frozen 2 and Onward as examples.

Iger goes on to say that more films originally planned for a cinema release might go straight to Disney Plus in the future. "In terms of movies going ahead after Artemis, there may be a few more that we end up putting directly onto Disney Plus," he says, "but for the most part a lot of the big tentpole Disney films, we'll simply wait for slots."

What counts as a "big tentpole film" isn't entirely clear, but it's worth noting that the long-delayed X-Men spin-off The New Mutants is yet to land a new date. Pixar's Soul, which is targeting a June 9 release, could also be a contender depending on how the next two months pan out, and whether cinemas are able to reopen.

In the meantime, if you're after something to watch at home, here's the Disney Plus schedule for April 2020.