French operators remain hopeful… But until when? Because for the United States at least, the game is over. Disney has just announced that “Mulan”, the live-action adaptation of the 1998 cartoon, will ultimately not be released in American theaters, but on its Disney + platform on September 4. The American giant specified that this platform release concerned the United States, but also Canada, New Zealand, Australia "and several European countries". Disney France for its part ensures that it does not yet have information on the release of the film in France.
In the United States and in the countries mentioned, therefore, Disney + subscribers will be able to watch "Mulan" on condition of paying 29.99 dollars (or 25.32 euros during this day, in addition to the cost of the subscription. ). A blow for the cinemas, which the new CEO of the Walt Disney Company tried to reassure by affirming that this exit on platform was "an exception". But the American operators relied on "Mulan" to revive a more than moribund attendance. According to the benchmark company Comscore, at the end of July, less than 17% of American theaters were open and in the United States as a whole, revenues would be more than 100 times lower than those in the first half of 2019 ...
Some releases postponed until 2021
Initially scheduled for March, “Mulan” has seen its release postponed several times because of the health crisis and the closure of American theaters. Faced with this context, some big budget films have postponed their release to the end of 2020 or even to 2021, such as "Mourir can wait" (the last James Bond), "Wonder Woman 1984", "The French Dispatch", by Wes Anderson, or “Pierre Lapin 2”… Others have opted for a direct VOD release, such as “SpongeBob” or Matteo Garrone's “Pinocchio”. With its blockbuster "Tenet", Warner has chosen a third way: Christopher Nolan's film will not be released in American theaters, but will be visible in theaters in France and around the world on August 26th.
French cinemas therefore dream of seeing Disney adopt a comparable solution for "Mulan". Especially since the latest operating figures are very bad: during the week of July 22 to 29, the number of admissions to French cinemas only reached 960,000 spectators, against 4.5 million on the same "Week in 2019. Despite the presence of very successful films on the bill (" Summer 85 "," Simply black "," The Good Wife "," Madre "," Divorce club "...), none exceeded 150,000 admissions in seven days.