The streaming wars continue to heat up, with Warner Bros. rocking the industry by announcing plans to release their entire slate of 2021 movies onto the studio’s in-house platform on the same day they hit theaters, while Netflix recently sailed past 200 million subscribers. Disney Plus is also riding an unstoppable wave of momentum, having hit the 100 million customer mark over three years ahead of schedule, and the Mouse House shows no signs of slowing down.
One of the major criticisms of Disney Plus during its first sixteen months in existence was the relative lack of original content in comparison to the likes of Netflix, Prime Video and Hulu, but that’s all set to change in a huge way. The Mandalorian, WandaVision and Pixar’s Soul drew in massive viewership figures, and that’s just the tip of the upcoming iceberg. In fact, in a new press release, the company has pledged to deliver over 100 streaming exclusives on an annual basis, and you can check out the statement below.
“The enormous success of Disney+, which has now surpassed 100 million subscribers, has inspired us to be even more ambitious, and to significantly increase our investment in the development of high-quality content. In fact, we set a target of 100+ new titles per year, and this includes Disney Animation, Disney Live Action, Marvel, Star Wars, and National Geographic. Our direct-to-consumer business is the Company’s top priority, and our robust pipeline of content will continue to fuel its growth.”
Between the Marvel Cinematic Universe and Star Wars alone there are close to 25 streaming shows in various stages of development, but there’s still much more to come from virtually all of Disney’s expansive portfolio of properties. Willow, Moana, Big Hero 6, The Mighty Ducks, Percy Jackson, Swiss Family Robinson, National Treasure all have episodic shows in the works, and that’s only a small sample.
On the film front, there’s an animated Night at the Museum, reboots of Three Men and a Baby, Cheaper by the Dozen, Father of the Bride, Inspector Gadget and Home Alone, feature-length live-action blockbusters Pinocchio and Peter Pan & Wendy, and many more in the pipeline. At this rate, Disney Plus is easily on track to surpass Netflix by the end of next year as projected and then some.