Disney Plus is about to get some contemporary Star Wars content material and it couldn’t come quickly sufficient.
Since its launch nearly three years in the past, Disney Plus has loved a meteoric rise in subscribers (topping out at roughly 164.2M (opens in new tab)) numbers proper up till this most up-to-date quarter when the service suffered a shocking drop of almost 3 million subscribers (opens in new tab). The trigger? It could be the skyrocketing subscription worth which now sits at $10.99 a month / £7.99 a month / $11.99 AU or, within the US, that you could endure by advertisements if you wish to pay simply $7.99 a month, a quantity that occurs to be significantly dearer than the unique $4.99 a month launch worth.
It may be the content material. There hasn’t been a lot new Marvel content material of late, although that would change quickly with the Secret Invasion collection and Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 (after it finishes its theatrical run) coming to the streaming platform within the first half of this yr. It may additionally be the considerably lackluster Star Wars lineup. Obi-Wan wasn’t a sensation and few are cheering the third season of The Mandalorian.
The excellent news is that we now learn about some model new Star Wars franchise content material heading to Disney Plus as quickly as this August.
At Star Wars Celebration Europe (opens in new tab), which is at the moment underway within the UK, the Lucas Movies panel delivered the primary trailer for its new Ahsoka collection (a The Mandolorian spin-off). Rosario Dawson returns because the titular Jedi in a live-action collection that’s set to launch on Disney Plus in August.
For what it is price, the collection seems prefer it’s stuffed stuffed with Jedi warrior motion.
The truth is, the Disney Plus slate might be stuffed with Star Wars content material by 2025.
Andor, a much more well-received collection that traced the occasions main as much as Cassian Jeron Andor’s involvement with stealing the Dying Star plans, revealed that taking pictures for season two is properly underway and that the brand new season ought to arrive in August 2024.
Additionally set for 2024 is The Acolyte which apparently includes a Jedi Wookie carried out by Joonas Suotamo, the identical actor who has performed Chewbacca in Solo, The Rise of Skywalker, and The Final Jedi.
Star Wars Celebration additionally teased Jude Regulation’s Skeleton Crew however supplied no launch date.
Down the road, there are actually no less than three extra live-action motion pictures deliberate – all of which can finally find yourself on the streaming platform – together with one starring Daisy Ridley, reprising her function as Rey. This time, although, she’ll be 15 years older and coaching younger Jedi Padawans.
Whereas there’s all the time an opportunity these launch dates may change, the information is mostly good for shoppers making an attempt to resolve if they need to keep on Disney Plus or drop the streamer in favor of one other platform with a richer content material providing.
Clearly, if Ahsoka, as an illustration, does not rise to Andor requirements (and even the bar set with The Mandalorian’s first season) and Secret Invasion is a dud, Disney Plus, which has greater than doubled in worth since its launch, may see extra subscribers go away. Or maybe present premium subscribers will go for Disney Plus Fundamental, the $7.99 commercial-supported choice that Roku just added (opens in new tab) to its streaming platform.
Regardless of the case, Disney’s subscriber travails are half of a bigger streaming development. A latest Park Associates study (opens in new tab) discovered that half of all over-the-top (OTT) service subscribers change providers a number of occasions within the yr based mostly on content material.
In different phrases, having the right combination, the best quantity, and one of the best content material at any given time is essential if a streamer hopes to triumph in what is clearly an leisure true arms race. After a powerful begin, Disney Plus clearly slipped a bit behind whereas Netflix has been surging for the last six months (opens in new tab) or so. No streamer can afford to let up or pull again on content material funding, whilst most of them are going through more durable financial occasions.
Even the enormous Disney has been pressured to lay off thousands (opens in new tab) but it surely clearly doesn’t need proof of that belt-tightening to trickle right down to manufacturing throughout its numerous franchises. If it did, Disney Plus would quickly see fewer contemporary motion pictures and TV reveals and subscribers would begin heading for the exits.