Disneys Streaming Service Starts to Come Into Focus


Very little is known about Disneyflix, as some people in Hollywood are calling the Netflix-style streaming service that Disney plans to introduce late next year.

How much will subscriptions cost? Disney has given hints but no specifics. The name, rollout strategy, precise menu of movies and television shows — all still a mystery.


But one aspect is becoming clear: The services initial success or failure will depend a great deal on an ascendant Disney executive named Ricky Strauss, who was recently given — to the surprise of many in Hollywood — creative oversight of the services programming. He has the power to “greenlight” new episodic series and movies and will develop, according to Disney, the services “strategic content vision.”
New content will include

  • Exclusive movies such as “Timmy Failure,” which has a $45 million budget and is based on the best-selling books about a comically self-confident boy detective. Tom McCarthy, the Oscar-winning “Spotlight” filmmaker, is directing the adaptation. Disney is remaking two musicals from its animation library as live-action films: “Lady and the Tramp” (1955) and “The Sword in the Stone” (1963). Other films headed to the service include “Togo,” a period adventure about a sled dog, and “Noelle,” starring Anna Kendrick as Santas daughter.
    Also in the mix are a remake of “Three Men and a Baby,” the 1987 comedy released by Touchstone, a defunct Disney label; “The Paper Magician,” set at a school for magic; “Stargirl,” based on the young-adult novel about a quirky teenager; and a new take on “Don Quixote” from the writer and director Billy Ray.
  • Jon Favreau's new Star Wars show
  • Episodic spinoffs of Disney franchises like “High School Musical” and “Monsters Inc.”
  • The Muppets will probably be getting a new series.
  • There will be Marvel-themed shows.
  • New season of the animated series “Star Wars: The Clone Wars” would head to the service.
  • No R rated content


Also

  • To make the Disney-branded service as robust as possible, Disney will allow a lucrative licensing deal with Netflix to expire. Starting with “Captain Marvel” in March, all of the films that Walt Disney Studios releases in theaters will subsequently flow to the Disney streaming platform instead of to Netflix.
  • There are “no current plans” to move Marvel-themed television shows off Netflix, a Disney spokeswoman said.)
  • Programming from National Geographic, which is part of the Fox acquisition, will probably be offered on the service. Disney has not decided whether family films from the Fox library (“Home Alone,” “Ice Age”) will be included.
  • Foxs rowdy animated shows, including “The Simpsons,” are expected to remain on Hulu.
Disney Lays Out Its Plan to Fight Back Against Streaming Giants


Disney went more into detail on their plans. They will have three streaming services: ESPN+, Disneyflix (unofficial title) and Hulu. Each streaming service will be aimed at a different demographic. ESPN+ for sports fans, Disneyflix for families and Hulu for adults. The three streaming services “may be bundled for people who want all three.”

Disneyflix will be priced substantially lower than Netflix and they are going into Disneyflix “walking rather than running”, suggesting that it will start at a low price and gradually become greater as it gets more volume. Will launch at the tail end of 2019.


Fox Searchlight will “work on exclusive original TV series and movies for streaming services.”




Foxs film studio will “work on blockbuster film franchises such as sequels to the popular Avatar and X-Men series. These will be theatrical films for theaters and not made for streaming services.”


Foxs TV studio will work on adult-oriented TV shows for FX and Hulu.

, , , .